Corpits  Christ! 

/ 


MRS.  MARY  A.SUTHERLAND 


The 
Story  of  Corpus  Christi 


By 

MRS.  MARY  A.  SUTHERLAND 


Ediled  ta 
Frank  B.  Harrison 


PUBLISHED  1916 

% 
Corpus    Christi    Chapter 

Daughters  of  the  Confederacy 


COPYRIGHT  APPLIED  FOR 


PRESS  OF 

REIN  &  SONS  COMPANY 

HOUSTON,  TEXAS 


Bancroft  Library 


MARY  A.   SUTHERLAND 


DEDICATION 


TO   THE    SOLDIERS   OF    THE    CONFEDERACY,    THEIR    WIVES, 
DAUGHTERS    AND    SONS    WHO    EVER    STRIVE    TO    KEEP 
ALIVE  THE  GALLANT,  DEVOTED  SPIRIT  OF  THE  OLD, 
AND    COURAGEOUS,    OPTIMISTIC    SPIRIT    OF    THE 
NEW    SOUTH,    THIS    VOLUME     IS    AFFECTION- 
ATELY   DEDICATED    BY    THE    AUTHOR 
AND     CORPUS      CHRISTI      CHAPTER, 
DAUGHTERS  OF  THE 
CONFEDERACY. 


PREFACE 


The  Story  of  Corpus  Christi,  presented  in  this  book 
form  as  the  labor  of  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Sutherland  and  with 
biographical  sketches  by  Mrs.  Sam  Rankin,  Eli  T.  Merri- 
man  and  others,  does  not  undertake  a  general  and  compre- 
hensive review  of  the  many  years'  history  of  Corpus  Christi 
and  section,  nor  does  it  pretend  ,to  detail  the  many  activities 
that  have  contributed  into  making  Corpus  Christi  the  beauti- 
ful gem  city  of  the  Texas  Coast. 

Rather  the  efforts  of  the  author  have  been  devoted  to 
presenting  in  plain  narrative  form,  a  recountal  of  the  days 
when  Corpus  Christi  was  young,  of  the  trials  and  tribulations 
that  fell  to  the  lot  of  her  residents  in  the  war  periods,  and 
finally  to  emerge  as  a  fast  growing  and  progressive  city  of 
the  Southland. 

If  an  error  has  been  made  it  has  been  of  the  head  and 
not  the  heart.  Honest  effort  has  been  made  to  present  a 
book  that  will  reflect  great  credit  on  Corpus  Christi  and  her 
people  and  to  be  remembered  with  pride  by  Corpus  Christi- 
ans in  the  years  to  follow. 

With  the  author  the  work  has  been  a  labor  of  love.  For 
years  it  has  been  with  her,  a  cherished  ambition  to  give  to 
the  people  of  Corpus  Christi  a  history  of  their  city.  Through 
the  untiring  energy  of  Corpus  Christi  Chapter,  Daughters  of 
the  Confederacy,  the  volume  has  been  published  with  the 
hope  that  it  will  meet  with  the  approval  of  those  men  and 
women  who  know  and  love  the  Corpus  Christi,  of  yesterday 
and  today. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  I.  Page 

THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI i 

The  discovery  of  Corpus  Christi.  First  settlement  on 
the  site  of  our  present  city.  Village  first  occupied  by  Span- 
ish Garrison.  The  legend  of  Casa  Blanca.  The  first  white 
man  to  reach  Corpus  Christi. 

CHAPTER  II. 

LANDING  OF  GENERAL  TAYLOR 6 

When  the  United  States  declared  war  on  Mexico.  Gen- 
eral Taylor  and  troops  in  camp  at  Corpus  Christi.  A  fight 
between  soldiers  and  snakes.  When  Jefferson  Davis,  U.  S. 
Grant  were  stationed  in  Corpus  Christi. 

CHAPTER  III. 

MEXICANS  ATTACK  AMERICANS 9 

Americans  attacked  while  attending  Mexican  baile. 
Headquarters  of  General  Taylor  on  Water  Street.  Taylor 
and  his  army  depart  for  Mexico.  The  old  Military  Cemetery. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

INDIAN  DEPREDATIONS 14 

One  of  the  early  depredations.  When  yellow  fever  in- 
vaded Corpus  Christi  in  1854.  An  early  day  ball,  given  by 
the  enlisted  men.  Bookkeeping  in  the  early  days.  Begin- 
ning of  the  Civil  War. 

CHAPTER  V. 

THE  CIVIL  WAR 19 

Civil  War  days  in  Corpus  Christi  and  vicinity.  Pre- 
sentation by  ladies  of  first  Confederate  flag.  Blockading 
fleet  of  the  Federals  at  the  two  Passes.  When  John  Ireland 
was  Military  Governor  of  Corpus  Christi. 

CHAPTER  VI. 
THE  LAST  FLAG  OF  TRUCE 23 

How  the  Confederates  sent  out  the  last  flag  of  truce. 
Federals  bombarded  Corpus  Christi  August  7,  1862.  The 
landing  of  the  enemy. 


viii  TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  VII.                             Page 
A  TRAP  FOR  THE  ENEMY 28 

How  the  Rebels  trapped  the  Federals.  Attempts  to 
prevent  Rebels  from  gathering  salt.  Two  lucky  soldier  boys 
find  Mexican  coins. 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
WHEN  THE  WAR  ENDED .   32 

Two  negro  regiments  officered  by  white  men,  first  to 
occupy  Corpus  Christi.  The  Ku  Klux  Klan.  The  first 
bicycle  and  the  first  baseball  games  in  Corpus  Christi. 

CHAPTER  IX. 
FIRST  CARPETBAGGER  GOVERNOR 38 

E.  J.  Davis  left  Corpus  Christi  to  rule  Texas  as  the  first 
Carpetbagger  Governor.  Corpus  Christi  again  visited  by 
yellow  fever,  claiming  scores  of  victims.  Death  of  the  be- 
loved War-Time  Priest,  Father  Canard. 

CHAPTER  X. 

SOME  EARLY  DAY  MERCHANTS 42 

The  early  day  wagon  trade  and  pioneer  merchants. 
Building  of  the  Texas-Mexican  Railroad.  Captain  Richard 
King  an  early  day  ranchero  and  progressive.  Trouble  with 
Mexican  freebooters.  Mexicans  make  raid  at  Nuecestown. 

CHAPTER  XL 

THE  AUTHOR  REACHES  CORPUS  CHRISTI 48 

How  Corpus  Christi  appeared  in  1876.  Jangle  of  Mexi- 
can words  first  impressed  visitors.  The  cattle  and  sheep 
industry. 

CHAPTER  XII. 

THE  MAN  WITH  THE  HOE 52 

Early  truck  growing  in  Nueces  County.  Building  of  the 
San  Antonio  &  Aransas  Pass  Railroad.  Early  day  baseball 
teams  and  some  historic  games.  The  arrival  of  Colonel 
Ropes  and  the  Ropes  boom.  Building  of  the  St.  Louis, 
Brownsville  &  Mexico  Railroad.  Building  of  the  ladies' 
pavilion.  Epworth  League  Encampment. 

CHAPTER  XIII. 

WHEN  FITZSIMMONS  TRAINED  IN  CORPUS  CHRISTI.  ....   59 

In  the  summer  of  1895  Fitzsimmons  trained  in  Corpus 
Christi.  The  first  naval  show  on  Nueces  Bay.  The  first 
electric  lights  and  the  first  automobile. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS  ix 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Page. 

THE  VISIT  OF  PRESIDENT  TAFT 62 

President  William  H.  Taft  visited  Corpus  Christi  in 
1909.  Entertained  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Henrietta  M.  King. 

CHAPTER  XV. 

THE  ADMINISTRATION  OF  DAN  REID 65 

The  administration  of  Mayor-  Dan  Reid,  his  accom- 
plishments and  his  untimely  death.  Early  day  social  affairs. 
The  annual  balls  of  the  Corpus  Christi  Volunteer  Fire 
Department. 

CHAPTER  XVI. 

SOME  EARLY  ENTERTAINMENTS 69 

The  arrival  of  the  lightning  rod  agent  and  medicine 
shows.  The  first  street  carnival.  The  first  city  hack  and 
how  it  was  used  at  an  election.  Incorporation  of  Corpus 
Christi.  The  Mayors  of  Corpus  Christi  since  incorporation 
in  1852. 

CHAPTER  XVII. 

CORPUS  CHRISTI  SCHOOLS 78 

When  Colonel  Kinney  brought  a  circus  to  Corpus 
Christi  from  New  Orleans.  Carnival  given  by  Master 
Butchers.  Early  day  public  and  private  schools. 

CHAPTER  XVIII. 

THE  PASTORES 82 

The  Mexican  Pastores  held  at  the  Yuletide  season.  The 
Mexican  in  South  Texas.  Mexican  amusements.  Early 
newspapers. 

CHAPTER  XIX. 

EARLY  NEWSPAPER  ARTICLES 88 

The  first  public  school  enrolled  one  hundred  and  forty- 
six  pupils.  The  first  fire  engine.  The  first  bonus  raised  by 
citizens  was  to  dig  channel.  Items  from  early  issues  of 
Corpus  Christi  newspapers. 

CHAPTER  XX. 

THE  FIRST  CHURCHES 92 

Methodist  Sunday  School  organized  in  1858.  Building 
of  Protestant  Church  buildings  and  organization  of  congre- 
gations. The  murder  of  George  Hatch. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  XXI.  Page. 

SOME  EARLY  SETTLERS 95 

Short  biographical  sketches  of  James  Hunter,  Mark 
Downey,  Colonel  Spann,  George  French,  M.  Lichtenstein, 
R.  G.  Blossman,  Capt.  James  Thompson,  August  Ricklefsen, 
John  Uehlinger,  James  McKenzie,  Thomas  Beynon,  Captain 
Oliver,  W.  B.  Wrather  and  others.  The  civic  works  of  Eli 
T.  Merriman. 

CHAPTER  XXII. 
OTHER  PIONEER  RESIDENTS 102 

Short  biographical  sketches  of  pioneer  Corpus  Chris- 
tians. 

CHAPTER  XXIII. 
THE  LIFE  OF  COLONEL  KINNEY 104 

Colonel  Kinney  killed  in  Matamoras  in  1865  while  a 
skirmish  was  in  progress  between  two  Mexican  factions. 
The  Kinney-Jones  land  title  cases.  Some  hard  cases  of 
eviction. 

CHAPTER  XXIV. 
HAVERTY  VERSUS  McCLANE 106 

Sheriff  John  McClane  goes  to  Chicago  and  "kidnaps" 
D.  Haverty,  sutler  in  a  negro  regiment.  Haverty  later 
causes  arrest  in  Chicago  of  McClane.  How  the  case 
terminated. 

CHAPTER  XXV. 
CIVIL  WAR  BATTLES  AT  CORPUS  CHRISTI in 

Two  engagements  between  the  North  and  South  on 
Corpus  Beach  during  the  Civil  War.  Confederate  Camp 
organized  in  1910. 

CHAPTER  XXVI. 
STORIES  OF  EARLY  DAYS 1 16 

First  white  child  born  in  Corpus  Christi  was  Andrew 
Baldeschwiller.  The  old  crossing  at  the  reef. 

CHAPTER  XXVII. 
OUR  MEXICAN  CITIZENS 120 

Stories  that  illustrate  the  typical  Mexican  resident  of 
South  Texas. 

STORY  OF  RAIDS  BY  MEXICAN  BANDITS 123 

CORPUS  CHRISTI  POSTMASTERS 129 

BEGINNING  AND  ENDING  OF  CIVIL  WAR 130 

SOME  EARLY  SETTLERS 132 

THE  DAUGHTERS  OF  THE  CONFEDERACY 140 

THE  CORPUS  CHRISTI  OF  TODAY 145 


The  Story  of  Corpus  Christ! 

By  MRS.  MARY  A.  SUTHERLAND 


CHAPTER  I. 

Corpus  Christi,  quietly,  queenly  and  beautiful,  she  lies 
on  the  warm  white  sands,  like  a  mermaid  taking-  a  rest  after 
her  bath  in  the  sparkling  waters  at  her  feet. 

The  first  knowledge  we  have  of  our  beautiful  Bay  of 
Corpus  Christi,  is  derived  from  ancient  French  Chronicles. 
In  1687  the  ill-fated  La  Salle,  in  his  search  for  the  mouth  of 
the  Mississippi,  visited  and  claimed  this  coast  for  the  Crown 
of  France,  and  in  his  search  undoubtedly  visited  our  shore, 
but  went  no  further  inland. 

The  Bay  was  discovered  on  a  Catholic  festival  day, 
Corpus  Christi  Day,  and  hence  the  name  Corpus  Christi. 

Our  first  information  of  a  settlement  on  the  site  of  our 
present  city,  is  of  a  little  Mexican  settlement  which,  about  the 
beginning  of  the  last  century,  was  surprised  by  a  band  of 
Indians  and  the  inhabitants  killed  or  carried  into  captivity, 
and  a  small  boy,  after  years  of  roaming  with  his  captors, 
escaped  and  returned,  living  on  and  being  a  constant  em- 
ployee of  the  Santa  Gertrudis  Ranch  until  the  time  of  his 
death,  when  he  was  a  very  old  man. 

The  original  Mexican  village  above  mentioned  was 
located  about  where  the  Kenedy  Pasture  Company  Building 
now  stands.  There  can  be  no  doubt  but  that  this  was  a 
favorite  fishing  ground  for  the  wild  tribes  of  Indians  roving 
this  section  of  the  country,  which  teemed  with  food ;  fish  to 
be  had  for  the  taking,  and  great  oyster  beds  uncovered  at  low 
tide.  The  adjoining  prairies  were  covered  with  deer  and 
buffalo.  The  Indians  held  possession  here  for  years  after 
the  destruction  of  this  village,  using  the  same  as  a  hunting 
and  fishing  ground. 

The  village  mentioned  was  undoubtedly  established  here 
during  the'  occupancy  of  this  place  by  a  Spanish  garrison,  and 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


left  to  its  fate  upon  the  withdrawal  of  the  troops.  The  troops 
at  this  point  were  commanded  by  Captain  Enrique  Villareal, 
who  afterwards  received  a  grant  of  land  from  the  Spanish 
Government,  extending  from  what  is  known  as  the  "Oso," 
on  the  south,  to  Nueces  Bay,  a  distance  of  about  fourteen 
miles,  on  the  north,  and  from  Corpus  Christi  Bay  on  the 
east,  to  Barranca  Blanca,  about  28  miles,  on  the  west,  which 
grant  was  by  his  heirs  sold  to  Captain  H.  L.  Kinney. 

While  Captain  Villareal  was  stationed  here,  he  sent  a 
report  to  his  King,  reporting  the  discovery  of  a  rich  silver 
mine  in  this  section  of  the  country,  two  days'  ride  from 
Corpus  Christi,  stating  that  he,  Villareal,  had  opened  this 
mine,  and  was  working  it  with  a  detachment  of  soldiers  to 
guard  it,  and  that  the  Indians  had  surprised  and  killed  the 
entire  party,  and  that  he  needed  a  stronger  force  of  men  to 
reopen  it. 

There  the  report  ended,  and  to  this  day  no  one  knows 
the  locality  of  this  mine.  Two  days'  journey  at  that  time 
meant  the  distance  that  could  be  traveled  by  an  ox  team  be- 
tween dawn  and  sunset.  About  this  distance  from  Corpus 
Christi  stands  the  old  deserted  ruins  of  Casa  Blanca  (White 
House).  Of  this  old  ruin  no  one  living  knows  one  word  of 
its  story.  W7hite  and  silent  it  stands  on  the  hillside,  with 
great  trees  growing  up  through  its  chimneys,  and  vines 
climbing  over  its  doorsills,  the  very  picture  of  desolation, 
guarding  its  secrets  well. 

As  the  Spaniards  hid  all  their  mines,  on  the  evacuation 
of  the  country  after  the  War  of  Independence  of  Mexico  in 
1810,  did  they  hide  this  mine  so  closely  that  it  remains  a 
secret  to  this  day  to  the  white  man  who  pastures  his  flocks 
upon  the  site.  Many  men  have  sought  in  vain  for  this 
Eldorado.  That  there  is  documentary  evidence  of  this  lost 
city  is  borne  out  by  a  circumstance  occurring  years  after  the 
Spaniard,  with  his  plumed  hat  and  silver  spurs,  and  the  fierce 
Indian,  with  bloody  tomahawk,  had  blazed  his  last  trail  and 
gone  into  the  Great  Beyond. 

In  1868  a  young  ranchman  bought  land,  built  a  home, 
and  brought  his  young  bride  to  live  on  this  lonely  ranch  near 
the  Silent  City.  They  noticed  and  spoke  of  a  peculiar  mound 
of  stones  standing  near  their  home,  remarking  that  it  seemed 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


to  be  built  by  hands,  and  not  a  natural  heap  of  boulders,  but 
were  too  busy  to  investigate.  During  the  following  winter, 
one  wild  night  when  a  Texas  Norther,  of  the  wet  variety, 
was  whooping  over  the  plains,  and  the  inmates  of  the  ranch 
home  were  snug  behind  closed  doors,  the  dogs  began  to  bark 
wildly,  keeping  it  up  for  several  hours.  Their  master  sup- 
posed they  were  defending  the  sheepfold  against  some  wild 
animal,  knew  they  were  to  be  trusted,  and  did  not  go  out. 
What  was  his  surprise  next  morning  to  see  that  the  mound 
had  been  removed  during  the  night  and  a  gaping  hole  opened 
at  its  base.  Who  came,  from  where,  for  what,  no  one  knows. 
But  so  many  years  had  elapsed  since  the  desertion  of  the 
place  that  we  can  only  suppose  that  the  discovery  of  some  old 
record,  perhaps  in  Mexico,  or  even  in  Spain,  might  have 
incited  the  hunt.  The  ranchero,  though  full  of  curiosity,  was 
glad  that  his  confidence  in  his  dogs  had  kept  him  in,  being 
sure  that  his  visitors  would  not  have  scrupled  to  add  another 
tragedy  to  the  list,  if  interrupted  in  their  hunt  for  buried 
treasure  the  stones  had  been  placed  to  mark.  What?  Vale 
Casa  Blanca  and  your  Mystery.  The  Conquistadore  has 
gone,  his  camp  deserted,  and  the  places  that  knew  him  are 
glad  to  know  him  no  more. 

Next  we  read  of  an  effort  to  colonize  our  sister  County 
of  San  Patricio,  and  a  colony  was  .placed  at  the  town  of  that 
name.  One  was  also  formed  for  Mission  Refugio,  another 
at  Copano.  At  each  place  there  was  a  Spanish  Mission  and 
small  garrison  of  Mexican  troops. 

Going  back,  in  1824,  we  have  the  very  first  news  of  a 
white  man  in  Corpus  Christi,  the  sole  survivor  of  a  vessel 
wrecked  on  Padre  Island,  pulled  across  the  bay  in  a  yawl, 
and  who  found  a  home  with  a  few  Mexicans  then  here.  He 
afterwards  removed  to  Refugio,  where  he  lived  to  a  great 
age.  From  him  we  learned  much  lore  of  early  days,  and  of 
some  things  which  had  puzzled  us.  Particularly  as  to  how 
the  earliest  inhabitant  earned  his  living. 

One  word  enlightened  us — Smuggling.  Our  bay  was  an 
ideal  spot  for  this  industry,  and  though  the  life  was  hard 
and  wild,  good  money  was  made  at  it.  In  "Lynn's  Fifty 
Years  in  Texas,"  we  read  that  the  author  came  to  Corpus 
Christi  in  1829  with  a  cargo  of  goods  purchased  in  New 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST: 


Orleans  for  the  Mexican  trade;  that  a  man  named  Wright 
was  to  meet  him  here  with  a  pack  train  to  carry  the  goods  to 
Rio  Grande. 

Wright  failed  to  appear,  and  Lynn  went  to  Matamoros 
for  a  train,  leaving  his  boat  at  Flour  Bluff.  On  the  journey 
he  stopped  at  various  Mexican  ranches  on  the  trail,  and  was 
well  treated  by  rancheros,  who  reminded  him  of  the  Patri- 
archs of  Bible  days,  living  by  their  flocks  and  herds,  all 
being  pious,  God-fearing  Catholic  people,  holding  morning 
and  evening  prayer,  but  not  another  word  does  he  tell  us 
of  our  little  city. 

Again  we  learn  that  prior  to  1846,  a  Mr.  Moore,  with 
his  wife  and  daughter  lived  here.  Their  house,  a  neat  adobe, 
stood  on  the  site  of  the  Corpus  Christi  National  Bank,  and 
was  torn  away  when  the  Bank  was  built,  late  in  the  years  of 
eighteen  hundred. 

A  Mr.  Belden,  who  was  married  to  a  Spanish  lady,  also 
lived  here,  and  he  and  the  Moores  were  the  only  Americans 
here  at  that  date.  The  old  Belden  house  stands  yet  on 
Mesquite  Street  near  the  Arroyo.  It  is  a  certainty  that  the 
bold  Buccaneers  often  visited  our  bay  for  fuel  and  water, 
as  they  kept  guard  on  the  nearby  high  seas  for  the  rich 
galleons  of  Spain,  loaded  with  the  loot  from  the  Aztec 
Temples. 

For  more  than  two  centuries  these  freebooters  sailed 
and  robbed  the  robber,  and  not  until  1820  did  the  last  one 
sail  away  from  these  waters.  Jean  Lafitte  in  that  year,  act- 
ing upon  a  hint  from  our  Government,  set  fire  to  his  head- 
quarters on  Galveston  Island,  called  in  his  scouts,  and  has 
the  doubtful  honor  of  being  the  last  pirate  ever  on  this  coast. 

From  this  time  we  have  no  record  of  events  for  the  years 
between  1820  and  1846.  That  a  trade  was  built  up  with  the 
interior,  and  Mexico,  is  borne  out  by  the  fact,  as  the  few 
Americans  here  in  1846  were  engaged  in  some  business 
netting  a  living.  Occasional  boats  from  New  Orleans  and 
Mobile  visited  the  settlement.  As  to  whether  or  not  they 
paid  duty  on  their  cargoes,  is  not  our  affair. 

Our  bay,  with  its  many  tributaries,  was  an  ideal  spot 
for  the  contraband.  The  trade  was  with  half  civilized 
people,  and  if  the  earliest  inhabitants  risked  life  and  prop- 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


erty  in  the  venture,  they  were  a  brave,  hardy  race.  The  risk 
was  theirs,  and  they  were  paving  the  way  to  give  this  near 
Earthly  Paradise  to  the  people  who  could  make  a  white 
man's  country  of  it. 

From  1840  to  1846  there  were  various  Colonies  brought 
to  nearby  sites.  The  Irish  Colony  of  San  Patricio,  the  Mis- 
sion Refugio,  and  what  was  then  known  as  Sabardie,  a 
mission  near  Goliad.  These  earliest  emigrants  suffered  ter- 
rible privations.  In  1834  two  schooners  were  wrecked  at 
the  bar,  on  St.  Joseph's  Island.  Cholera  appeared  among 
them,  and  it  is  estimated  that  four  out  of  every  six  found 
a  resting  place  'neath  the  waters  of  the  Gulf,  as  the  sur- 
vivors were  not  able  to  give  them  Christian  burial,  and  they 
were  cast  over  without  ceremony.  The  survivors  were  fin- 
ally carried  to  Copano  on  rafts,  by  Mexican  soldiers,  where 
they  made  rude  shelters  of  poles  and  bedding.  Eventually 
they  traveled  on  to  other  villages  where  a  few  of  their  coun- 
try people  had  preceded  them,  to  get  a  foothold,  only  to  be 
harried  and  their  last  belongings  burned,  and  they  driven 
from  the  State  by  the  Revolution  of  1836.  Many  of  them 
came  back,  some  of  the  best  names,  of  the  best  citizens  in 
the  surrounding  country,  were  borne  by  the  families  at  that 
time.  An  incident  of  the  landing  of  the  unfortunates  at 
Copano  was  told  by  an  eye  witness. 

A  party  of  Indians  went  out  to  help  them  land,  as  there 
was  no  dock  and  they  had  to  wade  ashore.  The  Indians 
were  friendly,  but  as  they  approached  the  barge,  holding 
out  their  arms  to  clasp  the  children,  the  poor  mothers  clasped 
them  tight  and  went  over  the  opposite  side.  Poor  mothers 
and  poor  babies !  We  are  forcibly  reminded  of  the  saying, 
"Between  the  Devil  and  the  deep  blue  sea."  The  women 
of  that  time  realized  its  meaning.  One  of  the  children  off 
that  boat,  who  remembered  that  trip,  lived  many  years  in 
Corpus  Christi,  dying  only  a  few  days  ago. 

On  June  23,  1845,  Texas  became  a  State  of  the  Union. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


CHAPTER  II. 

Landing  of  General  Taylor. 

On  May  n,  1846,  the  United  States  declared  war 
against  Mexico.  During  the  autumn  months  of  1845,  our 
eastern  horizon  went  mad.  Clouds  of  white  canvas  appeared, 
long  lines  of  barges,  towed  by  fussy  little  tugs,  traveled 
across  the  water.  General  Taylor's  army  of  occupation  had 
arrived  and  camped  upon  the  disputed  territory. 

Mexico  claimed  the  Nueces  River  as  the  dividing  line, 
while  Texas  claimed  south  to  the  Rio  Grande.  Texas  had 
become  a  State  of  the  Union,  June  23,  1845,  and  Uncle  Sam 
was  backing  her  rights.  Slowly  the  fleet  crawled  into  this 
unknown  bay,  and  putting  in  close  to  shore  they  anchored, 
and  men  and  horses  sprang  into  the  water  and  waded  ashore. 
Where  the  Epworth  League  was  located,  was  the  landing 
place,  and  soon  long  rows  of  white  tents  dotted  the  plain, 
and  the  American  officer,  in  all  his  bravery  of  gold  epaulets 
and  nodding  plume,  exercised  his  blooded  steed  on  the  snowy 
shell  beach.  Long  lines  of  infantry  followed.  Cannon  was 
unloaded,  parked  camps  surveyed,  and  guards  placed. 

General  Taylor  was  at  home  in  Texas,  or  Mexico  as 
the  case  might  seem !  The  troops  were  put  to  work  to  clear 
the  ground,  no  small  work  at  that  time  as  the  grass  was  as 
tall  as  a  man's  head,  and  like  all  the  Texas  coast,  the  ground 
literally  swarmed  with  serpents,  principally  the  rattler, 
though  all  the  native  varieties  were  present ;  the  soldiers  even 
claiming  that  the  sea  serpent  landed  nightly  and  gave  battle 
to  the  land  forces. 

One  still  night  the  rattle  of  the  numerous  snakes  created 
a  panic  in  the  camp  of  the  Seventh  U.  S.  Infantry,  and  they 
fled,  to  a  man.  Following  the  beach  they  came  south  to  the 
Bayou,  where  they  stopped  with  the  artillery  men  until  day- 
light, when  they  returned  and  killed  one  hundred  and  four- 
teen snakes  in  and  around  camp. 

The  soldiers,  in  addition  to  making  camp,  were  put  to 
work  to  build  long  embankments  of  sand  as  a  windbreak  and 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


protection  from  the  Northers.  They  may  be  plainly  traced 
today,  long  mounds  of  earth  lying  east  and  west.  Some 
years  since,  the  writer  was  able  to  trace  several  redoubts, 
one  very  plainly  at  the  foot  of  Hughes  Street,  near  the  bay. 
About  the  center  of  block  fourteen,  west  side  of  Chaparral 
Street,  was  an  enclosed  space  of  about  fifty  feet  square,  with 
only  one  entrance.  This,  an  ex-soldier  told  me,  was  undoubt- 
edly the  magazine,  but  in  the  march  of  progress  those  old 
landmarks  have  gone,  and  only  the  long  rows  of  windbreaks 
remain,  mute  witnesses  of  the  days  when  the  brave  men 
faced  an  unknown  foe,  and  won  for  the  white  race  one  of 
the  fairest  spots  in  all  Texas. 

In  that  great  army  of  occupation  came  many  in  the 
heyday  of  youth,  whose  names  later  were  to  become  known 
throughout  the  world. 

Here  on  our  beach  landed  the  Mississippi  Yagers,  so 
called  because  armed  with  the  then  new  Yager  rifle.  This 
regiment  was  commanded  by  Col.  Jefferson  Davis,  soon  to 
win  laurels  in  Mexico,  and  later  to  be  the  only  President  of 
the  Southern  Confederacy,  a  soldier,  a  student,  a  scientist,  a 
gentleman.  A  bright  man  in  each  role,  but  reaching  the 
grandeur  of  his  life  and  manhood  when  old  and  poor,  a 
manacled  prisoner  in  Fortress  Monroe,  he  defended,  at  immi- 
nent risk  of  his  life,  the  people  and  the  cause  which  he  had 
served  so  faithfully,  and  during  the  remainder  of  his  life, 
was  an  honor  to  the  land  which  gave  him  birth. 

U.  S.  Grant  was  a  young  officer  in  this  command,  and 
noted  as  a  fearless  horseman.  The  story  goes  that  he  pur- 
chased an  untamed  horse  from  a  native.  No  one  would  go 
near  the  vicious  brute,  and  the  Captain  took  him  in  hand. 
With  the  help  of  his  entire  troop  he  mounted  and  away  over 
the  brush  and  briar,  through  thorn  and  chaparral,  went  this 
blue  streak,  occasionally  approaching  camp  only  to  have  the 
maddened  animal  bolt  anew,  much  to  the  edification  of  his 
brother  officers  and  the  men,  but  a  few  hours  later  he  rode 
into  camp  with  a  thoroughly  subdued  mount.  Another  story 
of  the  Captain  was  that  he  went  one  evening  to  call  upon  the 
only  American  lady  of  the  village.  Some  of  his  brother  offi- 
cers, thinking  he  was  monopolizing  too  much  of  her  time, 
s^nt  some  one  to  trim  up  his  horse,  which  was  tied  at  the 


8  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

I 

gate  (now  the  Corpus  Christi  National  Bank).  When  the 
officer  came  out  he  found  an  apparent  mule  standing  at  the 
rack.  He  hunted  the  miscreant  in  vain,  consigning  the  poor, 
disfigured  and  disgraced  steed  to  the  pack  or  wagon  train. 
He  purchased  and  mastered  the  mustang. 

With  this  brave  galaxy  came  the  afterward  noted  Rebel, 
General  Longstreet,  and  the  equally  to  be  distinguished, 
General  Sherman,  who  won  fame  by  marching  through 
Georgia,  and  on  that  same  march  to  the  sea,  the  undying 
hate  of  the  Georgian,  which  was  plainly  demonstrated  a  few 
years  since,  when  his  son,  Father  Sherman,  started  to  follow 
the  route  his  father  had  burned  his  way  through  some  forty 
years  before.  No  less  a  personage  than  our  own  Colonel 
Theodore  Roosevelt  called  off  the  escort,  and  not  wishing  to 
see  a  new  Civil  War  organized,  the  trip  was  abandoned. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


CHAPTER  III. 

Mexicans  Attack  Americans. 

One  night  some  of  the  enlisted  men  attended  a  Mexican 
baile  or  dance  on  the  hill.  The  Mexicans  attacked  the  Amer- 
icans, killing  one  man  and  chasing  the  others  into  camp. 
Although  war  had  not  been  declared  against  Mexico  at  this 
date,  there  was  no  love  between  the  races. 

Longstreet,  Sherman  and  others  not  mentioned,  headed 
a  party  and  made  an  informal  call  upon  the  revelers,  killing 
four  men,  burning  every  jacal  (called  hackel)  on  the  bluff, 
and  running  every  Mexican  off  the  hill  into  the  brush. 

Some  of  the  wives  of  the  officers  and  men  came  out,  as 
did  the  sutler  and  other  camp  followers,  and  Corpus  Christi 
soon  had  a  little  American  Colony. 

General  Taylor's  headquarters  were  on  Water  Street, 
in  block  four,  in  a  concrete  or  adobe  house,  lately  torn  down 
to  make  room  for  a  warehouse  built  by  John  Jordt,  pioneer 
furniture  dealer.  The  only  American  young  lady  in  the 
colony  was  wooed  and  won  by  a  gallant  Captain  of  the  volun- 
teers, Captain  Berry,  who  returned  at  the  close  of  the  war 
and  married  her.  She  died  after  a  short  and  happy  married 
life,  mourned  by  all  who  knew  her.  She  left  an  infant  son, 
now  one  of  the  sterling  citizens  of  a  sister  city. 

But  the  day  and  the  order  to  advance  came.  There  was 
wild  riding  to  and  from  the  various  camps.  Groups  of 
orderlies  and  staff  officers  came  and  went  again  to  head- 
quarters, and  if  the  mermaids  were  looking  at  that  scene  of 
brilliant  array,  which  was  gathered  that  April  morning  on 
the  borders  of  their  domain,  they  saw  the  American  soldier 
at  his  best. 

And  if  a  mermaid  is  gifted  with  second  sight,  they  must 
have  shed  tears,  lots  of  tears,  knowing  that  some  of  the 
hearts  beating  with  enthusiastic  patriotism  were  never  to 
reach  that  boundary  river  in  dispute,  that  others  were  to 
sleep  their  last  sleep  'neath  an  alien  sky,  while  others  were 


10  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

to  suffer  the  tortures  of  a  Mexican  dungeon,  and  come  back 
broken  in  health  and  return  home  to  die. 

The  order  was  given  and  the  advance  was  on.  Long 
lines  of  cavalry  led  the  way  over  the  plain.  The  artillery 
bumped  its  slow  pace  over  unmarked  roads,  followed  by  the 
infantry,  and  they  in  turn  by  miles  of  wagon  train,  great 
pack  trains,  each  wagon  drawn  by  six  large  mules,  for  the 
army  of  occupation  must  carry  its  subsistence  with  it. 

The  noisy  little  tugs  and  transports,  with  a  part  of  the 
troops,  were  sent  to  Point  Isabel,  about  one  hundred  miles 
south  of  Corpus  Christi,  at  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande. 
The  landing  of  these  troops,  and  the  advance  of  General 
Taylor's  land  forces  deeply  stirred  Mexico.  Taylor  reached 
the  river  and  founded  Fort  Brown  (now  Brownsville). 

In  moving  down  the  river  to  form  a  junction' with  his 
forces  at  Point  Isabel,  he  was  met  by  a  Mexican  force,  and 
the  first  battle  of  the  war,  Palo  Alto  (high  tree),  was  fought 
on  May  8,  1846.  The  next  day  the  battle  of  Resaca  de  la 
Palma  was  won  by  American  arms.  These  battles  were 
fought  on  Texas  soil,  near  Brownsville,  on  the  8th  and  9th 
of  May,  1846,  though  the  war  with  Mexico  was  not  de- 
clared until  May  1 1  of  that  year.  The  Mexicans,  smarting 
over  the  loss  of  Texas,  were  eager  for  the  fray,  and  pre- 
cipitated the  war  by  which  they  were  to  lose  more  territory, 
but  to  this  day  they  believe  that  Texas  fought  that  war,  and 
among  the  ignorant  class,  and  there  is  legion  of  him,  every 
American  or  citizen  of  the  United  States,  is  a  Texan.  They 
hate  him  only  as  an  Indian  can  hate. 

Taylor  with  his  victorious  army  crossed  the  Rio  Grande, 
and  we  travel  back  over  his  well  marked  trail  with  our 
story.  But  on  the  route  back,  a  few  miles  north  of  Browns- 
ville, we  come  upon  a  veritable  horror.  At  the  Arroyo 
Colorado,  a  party  of  Americans  (civilian  traders),  following 
in  the  wake  of  the  army,  camp  for  the  night.  The  next  morn- 
ing the  sun  beat  upon  a  rifled  camp,  and  sixteen  stark  bodies, 
but  one  of  the  bodies  moves,  crawls  slowly  to  the  shade  of 
the  brush,  where  later  he  .is  found,  covered  with  knife 
wounds,  by  a  Mexican  farmer.  He  was  but  a  young  Ameri- 
cano, and  he  was  carried  to  the  Mexican  women  of  the  fam- 
ily. They  hid  him  and  nursed  him  back  to  health.  Captain 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  11 

Rogers  lived  many  years  in  Corpus  Christi,  and  his  children 
and  grandchildren  are  today  of  our  best  citizens. 

Back  to  our  starting  point !  How  hard  to  realize  that 
many  years  have  flown.  Today  perhaps  there  are  some- 
where, a  few  old  cannon  in  some  home,  a  sword  or  epaulet, 
cherished  as  souvenirs  of  that  splendid  army.  The  ships,  the 
wagons,  the  horses  and  the  men  are  dust.  A  few  long 
mounds  of  shell,  a  cemetery  which  was  surveyed  by  Taylor's 
engineers,  a  few  old  traditions,  is  all  that  is  left  of  that  army. 

That  some  of  them  died  here  we  know,  hence  the  ne- 
cessity of  a  cemetery.  They  lie  in  long  forgotten  graves.  A 
few  years  since  a  letter  was  received  by  the  Woman's  Ceme- 
tery Association,  asking  if  the  grave  of  one  Colonel  Hodge- 
kiss  could  be  traced.  It  could  not,  and  only  from  that  letter 
do  we  know  that  Colonel  Hodgekiss  served  with  Taylor,  and 
died  in  camp  here,  and  was  buried  on  the  hillside. 

In  later  years,  officers  and  men  of  other  times  and  other 
wars  were  laid  beside  him,  and  for  the  last  few  years  the 
ladies  of  the  Cemetery  Association  cared  for  the  God's  Acre 
in  this  old  Military  Cemetery,  now  Bay  View. 

In  a  beautiful  spot,  overlooking  two  bays,  lies  the  dust 
of  heroes,  men  who  served  in  the  Texas  Army,  the  Mexican 
War,  Indian  Wars,  Civil  War  (both  sides),  and  one  poor 
fellow  who  died  in  camp  here  during  the  Spanish-American 
War. 

'Neath  a  lonely  mound,  marked  by  a  simple  marble  slab, 
lies -all  that  is  mortal  of  Captain  Van  Buren,  of  the  Mounted 
Rifles,  who  was  mortally  wounded  in  an  engagement  with 
the  Indians  in  1854,  the  stone  erected,  according  to  the  epi- 
taph, by  his  only  sister.  On  the  face  of  the  stone  is  the 
mark  showing  where  it  was  struck  by  two  grape  shot  during 
the  bombardment  of  the  city  by  the  Union  fleet  during  the 
Civil  War.  Beside  it  lies  another  stone,  shattered  by  shots 
fired  at  the  same  time. 

A  busy  city  has  grown  up  on  all  sides  of  the  old  ceme- 
tery, and  at  the  foot  of  the  hill  stand  the  depots  of  the  San 
Antonio  and  Aransas  Pass  Railroad,  and  the  San  Antonio, 
Uvalde  and  Gulf  Railroad ;  and  ever  busy  life  surges  around 
the  spot  to  which  the  early  settler  always  carried  his  gun, 
ever  on  the  lookout  for  the  skulking  savage. 


12  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

But  few  of  the  soldiers'  graves  are  marked,  but  we 
know  that  they  lie  there.  Owing  to  the  efforts  of  Post  Com- 
mander E.  J.  Kilmer  of  the  Grand  Army  of  the  Republic, 
the  graves  of  the  Union  soldiers  have  been  marked  by  a 
marble  stone.  A  large  stone  bearing  the  simple  words,  "To 
the  Memory  of  Confederate  dead,  who  lie  in  this  and  ad- 
jacent cemeteries,"  was  erected  a  few  years  since  by  a  local 
historical  association,  whose  names  will  appear  later. 

Sometime  in  the  Forties,  one  Colonel  Kinney  purchased 
the  Villareal  tract  of  land,  bordering  on  the  bay  shore,  upon 
which  the  city  now  stands,  and  it  became  known  as  Kinney's 
Ranch. 

The  Colonel  was  a  progressive  man,  and  willing  to  di- 
vide the  good  land  with  others,  he  started  a  real  estate  boom 
that  would  be  up-to-date  even  in  this  fast  age.  We  read  of 
his  agents  in  far  away  Ireland,  England,  Scotland,  and  even 
the  Northern  Isle  of  Man  was  on  the  list.  Supposedly  also 
in  Germany,  as  we  got  German  Colonists  of  a  superior  class. 
In  truth,  all  of  the  earliest  arrivals  were  of  a  staunch,  pros- 
perous class. 

We  read  in  an  unpublished  history,  which  was  written 
by  a  highly  gifted  lady,  whose  father  emigrated  at  an  early 
date,  that  each  head  of  a  family  was  required  to  bring  farm- 
ing tools,  and  provisions  for  a  year,  also  clothing  and  general 
supplies.  All  of  them  brought  some  money,  but  alas,  many 
of  the  tools  were  never  to  kiss  the  virgin  soil.  And  provisions 
that  would  keep  sweet  in  the  climate  from  which  they  came, 
would  soon  be  unfit  for  use  in  our  warm  zone.  This  lady's 
father  was  of  the  earliest  colonists,  who  for  some  "strange 
reason,  in  this  and  other  parts  of  the  State,  passed  the  good 
lands  and  tried  to  found  cities  in  impossible  nooks.  For 
proof,  San  Felipe,  Washington,  Velasco,  Anahuac,  San  Pa- 
tricio  are  recalled.  I  can  call  to  mind  but  one  of  the  early 
places  which  held  its  own,  San  Antonio,  and  she  owes  her 
prosperity  to  the  God-given  water,  pure  and  plenty.  This 
with  the  seemingly  inborn  instinct  of  her  people  to  tear  down 
anything  standing  in  the  way  of  their  progress.  A  sister  city 
is  kin  to  San  Antonio,  only  while  she  pays  tribute  to  Alamo 
City. 

.  San  Antonio,  like  our  city,  has  won  out,  and  we  will 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  13 

visit  and  enjoy  her  streams  and  parks.  If  we  have  not  the 
same,  we  have  water,  salt  water  with  fish  in  it,  and  oysters 
and  crabs  and  shrimp,  sea  food  for  the  taking. 

This  was  a  golden  age  for  the  Bay  Sailors  who  unloaded 
the  heavy  draught  steamers  at  Aransas  Pass,  lightering  the 
goods  across  the  bay  to  the  city.  Years  afterward  an  old 
Bay  Captain  told  me  that  his  banner  trip  netted  him  an  even 
five  hundred  dollars,  this  on  a  cargo  of  flour.  Never  less 
than  one  hundred  dollars  a  trip  was  cleared.  When  we 
say  Aransas  Pass,  we  mean  Aransas  Pass,  the  pass  from  the 
Gulf,  between  Mustang  and  St.  Joseph's  Islands,  which  has 
borne  the  name  since  it  was  charted.  Situated  on  the  North 
Bay  Shore,  between  here  and  Rockport,  a  town  sprang  up, 
known  as  Aransas  Harbor.  In  the  boom  in  the  eighties, 
later  it  appeared  as  Aransas  Pass.  We  are  surprised  that 
no  attention  was  paid  to  the  change  in  name,  as  it  is,  to  say 
the  least  of  it,  misleading.  The  Washington  telegrams  occa- 
sionally give  the  news  of  appropriations  for  Aransas  Pass, 
and  of  work  progressing  at  that  point. 

Naturally,  to  a  person  not  on  the  ground,  it  would  seem 
that  the  Government  was  doing  a  lot  of  work  there,  while  in 
reality  there  has  never  been  an  appropriation  of  any  kind 
for  this  little  place.  The  citizens  of  the  simon  pure  pass 
accommodatingly  named  their  postoffice  Tarpon  (later 
changed  to  Port  Aransas),  but  to  the  outside  world,  to  the 
Government  Engineers,  and  to  all  of  this  country,  Aransas 
Pass  is  still  at  the  same  old  spot  as  in  the  days  of  Lafitte, 
and  of  the  early  settlers,  where  in  the  near  future  a  great 
seaport  will  be  built ;  Government  Dredges  have  dug  a  chan- 
nel from  thence  up  to  the  wharves  at  Corpus  Christi. 


14  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


CHAPTER  IV. 

Indian  Depredations. 

During  the  years  between  the  Mexican  and  Civil  Wars 
our  people  led  an  easy  care-free  life,  an  occasional  Indian 
scare,  or  the  arrival  of  a  bad  man  who  shot  up  the  town, 
were  about  all  the  excitements  of  the  times.  The  Indians 
raided  near,  and  occasionally  shot  an  unwary  hunter  or  trav- 
eler. One  of  the  earliest  depredations  mentioned  was  the 
killing  of  a  white  man  near  the  site  of  the  Court  House.  He 
had  gone  out  to  bring  the  cows  in  for  the  evening  milking. 
This  was  out  of  town  at  this  time.  Another  man  journeyed 
out  and  camped  at  the  reef  north  of  town,  meaning  to  cross 
in  the  early  morning  while  the  water  was  calm.  Later  his 
poor,  mutilated  body  was  found  by  stock  hunters,  wagon 
burned  and  horses  gone. 

But  the  saddest  story  of  all  was  that  of  young  Dolan. 
Like  all  boys  he  wanted  a  gun.  His  mother  sent  to  New 
Orleans  by  a  friend  and  got  the  gun  for  his  sixteenth  birth- 
day. A  proud  and  overjoyed  youth  he  was  the  day  it  ar- 
rived. Taking  a  Mexican  boy  with  him,  he  crossed  the  reef 
to  try  it  out.  No  doubt  their  progress  across  the  two  miles 
of  open  water  was  watched  by  hidden  savages  on  the  other 
side.  Soon  after  arriving  on  firm  ground,  they  were  con- 
fronted by  the  warriors  and  a  fight  for  life  was  on.  The 
boy  dropped  the  gun,  and  fatal  error  left  it,  as  they  kept  at 
a  distance  as  long  as  he  held  it.  Then  they  seized  it  and  the 
poor  boy  was  slain  with  his  own  gun. 

The  Mexican  boy,  true  to  his  training  and  the  Indian 
blood  in  his  veins,  wormed  his  way  through  the  chaparral 
and  escaped.  Late  that  night  he  returned,  bringing  to  the 
waiting  parents  the  heart-rending  news  that  their  only  boy 
lay  dead  under  the  stars.  An  old  chronicle  says  that  this  was 
the  saddest  funeral  ever  held  in  Corpus  Christi,  a  party  of 
armed  men  having  gone  over  in  the  morning  and  brought 
the  body  home  to  the  mother,  who  never  forgave  herself  for 
buying  the  gun  which  was  the  cause  of  the  tragedy.  This 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  15 

was  the  last  Indian  murder  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of 
Corpus  Christi.  It  occurred  sometime  in  the  fifties. 

If  memory  serves  aright,  it  was  at  the  house  of  this 
Mrs.  Dolan  that  Captain  Van  Buren,  before  mentioned,  died 
on  the  ninth  day  after  being  wounded.  As  the  story  goes, 
he  got  up  that  morning  and  asked  Mrs.  Dolan  to  make  him 
some  soup,  saying  he  felt  hungry.  She  went  to  do  his  bid- 
ding. She  had  almost  finished  preparing  the  meal  when  his 
attendant,  an  enlisted  man,  called  her  to  come  quick.  They 
barely  got  him  to  his  bed  when  he  breathed  his  last. 

Poor  boy,  barely  a  fortnight  before,  he  with  his  regi- 
ment, Maryland  Mounted  Rifles,  went  on  a  scout  after  a 
band  of  Indians,  reported  nearby.  They  found  them  near 
the  mouth  of  the  Nueces  River,  and  had  a  fierce  fight.  Of 
this  I  can  get  no  report  of  casualties,  and  only  Van  Buren's 
lonely  tomb  remains  to  tell  the  story  of  days  which  tried 
men's  souls,  and  of  the  death  of  the  young  and  gallant  officer. 

This  year  of  1854  was  destined  to  be  a  sad  one  for 
brave  little  Corpus  Christi.  A  foe  more  deadly  than  painted 
savages  was  on  its  way,  a  foe  which  in  that  day  and  time 
we  could  not  fight,  sailing  across  our  bay  in  open  daylight, 
met  with  open  arms  it  came,  and  deadly  was  its  visitation. 

In  the  summer  of  that  year  a  Mexican  fruit  vessel, 
peddling  her  cargo  from  port  to  port,  touched  at  our  wharf, 
and  did  a  brisk  business.  What  a  boon,  rich,  ripe  fruit  to  a 
people  who  grew  nothing  at  home,  great  golden  oranges, 
bunches  of  bananas  turning  from  green  to  gold,  which  might 
be  kept  for  days,  lemons,  limes,  colossal  pineapples,  mangoes, 
the  very  air  wras  laden  with  the  rioh  odor  of  fruit. 

The  merchants  came  and  bought  for  their  stores,  the 
householders  bought  for  their  families,  nearby  rancheros 
hearing  of  the  unusual  treat,  came  in  to  get  a  share,  the 
Mexican  citizens  came  from  the  hill  to  hear  the  news  and 
palabro  with  their  countrymen.  First  and  last,  almost  every 
soul  in  the  place  visited  the  vessel  in  its  week's  stay,  and 
everyone  who  visited  the  vessel  had  been  exposed  to  that 
deadliest  of  Southern  diseases,  the  vomito  of  Mexico,  yel- 
low fever  of  the  American. 

Within  two  weeks  the  town  was  a  fever  ward,  and  the 
Grim  Reaper  gathered  toll  in  almost  every  home.  Mothers 


16  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

were  left  with  a  family  of  small  children,  thousands  of  miles 
from  native  land  or  kinsmen.  Fathers  had  to  leave  the  little 
ones  neglected  while  they  left  them  to  toil  for  food,  while 
in  some  cases  both  parents  were  taken.  Scarce  a  family 
escaped,  but  the  cold  weather  came,  or  the  disease  died  out 
for  the  want  of  new  victims.  The  Christmas  of  1854  was  a 
sad  holiday.  Corpus  Christi,  the  stricken,  mourned  its  dead. 

Shortly  after  this  a  detachment  of  soldiers  \vere  sta- 
tioned here.  Of  this  command  I  know  very  little,  except 
they  were  regulars  commanded  by  Major  Chapman;  his  old 
headquarters,  a  very  pretentious  house  for  that  time,  still 
stands  and  is  in  possession  of  his  descendants,  who  rank  as 
one  of  the  oldest  families.  Some  of  his  men,  at  expiration  of 
enlistment,  remained  here.  One  of  them,  an  old  Sergeant, 
related  to  me  stories  of  the  good  old  times  of  his  youth,  all 
forgotten  except  one,  of  a  grand  ball  given  by  the  enlisted 
men  for  the  benefit  of  the  widow  of  a  comrade  recently  dead. 

Meetings  were  held,  committees  appointed,  tickets  pro- 
cured and  sold  at  two  dollars  each,  all  the  officers  and  many 
citizens  purchasing. 

The  next  question  was  as  to  invitations.  A  flutter  went 
down  soapsuds  row,  and  there  was  an  overhauling  of  finery 
in  the  officers'  kitchens,  and  the  boys  were  told  off  as  to 
who  they  were  to  escort  to  the  dance.  Working  for  one  of 
the  officers  was  a  girl  named  Lucindy.  Now  Lucindy  was 
no  beauty,  nor  was  she  young.  Although  ladies  were  scarce, 
no  one  would  agree  to  go  with  her.  Up  spoke  my  friend, 
the  Sergeant,  from  the  kindness  of  his  Irish  heart,  'Til  take 
Lushindy,  bedad,  and  the  laddie  that  don't  dance  with  her 
can  meet  me  out  byant  the  corral  after  roll  call  tomorry 
morning."  Needless  to  tell  that  for  once  poor  Lucindy  was 
the  belle  of  the  ball,  and  had  partners  to  spare.  A  goodly 
sum  was  raised  for  the  widow,  the  officers  attended,  and  the 
ball  was  a  success. 

About  this  time  there  was  a  little  episode  typical  of  the 
time  and  place.  A  couple  of  Mormon  missionaries  arrived 
and  began  to  hold  meetings  in  a  warehouse  on  the  waterside, 
for  men  only.  Amusement  was  scarce  and  the  men  attended 
regularly.  The  meetings  had  been  on  nightly  for  some  time, 
and  the  Saints  felt  that  they  were  gaining  ground  rapidly. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  17 

This  night  the  speaker  was  in  the  midst  of  an  impassioned 
appeal  for  recruits.  Suddenly  he  stopped  as  if  stricken 
dumb.  His  jaw  dropped  and  he  stood  as  if  petrified,  but 
only  for  a  moment.  Then  things  began  to  liven  up.  Into 
the  room  marched  the  good  wives  of  the  congregation. 

The  leading  lady  carried  a  very  dead  cat  by  the  tail,  this 
she  brought  down  across  the  open  mouth  of  the  speaker, 
while1  her  cohorts  hurled  eggs  and  other  missiles  at  the  pair. 
Again  and  again  the  cat  descended,  wielded  by  a  strong 
arm.  The  Saints  sought  the  open  air  in  undignified  haste, 
not  waiting  for  their  hats,  made  a  wild  dash  for  the  hill, 
over  its  brow  they  went,  crashing  through  brush,  racing  like 
unto  wild  cattle.  They  were  known  to  Corpus  Christi  no 
more.  The  ladies  then  proceeded  to  dismiss  the  meeting,  in 
which  ceremony  they  used  the  remainder  of  the  ammunition. 
The  narrator,  who  was  one  of  the  congregation,  told  the 
writer  that  he  did  not  return  to  the  bosom  of  his  family  for 
several  days,  not  until  a  general  amnesty  was  declared,  and 
though  his  hair  was  as  the  driven  snow,  his  eye  lit  up  with 
the  fire  of  youth  at  the  memory  of  the  Mormons'  last 
meeting. 

People  of  that  day  had  a  higher  business  morality  than 
we  of  the  present  day,  that  is,  they  paid  their  debts  more 
promptly,  the  merchants  did  a  general  credit  business,  and 
as  far  as  recalled  no  one  went  "broke."  Judge  Fitzsimmons, 
then  a  young  man,  afterward  an  efficient  County  Officer, 
for  years  holding  the  office  of  County  Judge,  told  the  follow- 
ing story : 

"A  nearby  ranchero  traded  at  the  store  of  W.  N. 
Staples,  where  I  was  at  the  time  bookkeeper.  The  old  fellow 
came  in  about  twice  yearly,  and  settled  up.  One  day,  as 
usual,  he  came  in  for  his  account.  I  called  the  amount,  he 
hesitated  awhile  before  taking  the  bill.  'No,  sor,  that's  not 
right,'  he  said,  laying  it  back  on  the  desk,  and  reaching  down 
into  his  pocket  he  handed  out  a  stick  covered  with  notches. 
'No,  sor,  you  have  charged  me  twinty  cints  too  much;  I'll 
not  pay  it.'  Running  his  finger  down  the  stick  he  counted, 
'This  is  ten  dollars ;  this  is  five ;  one-seventy,  two  forty-five, 
terbacce  twinty-five,  ax  for  John,  seventy-five ;  one  tin  wash- 
pot  for  the  old  woman,  two-thirty ;  one  dollar,  what  the  divil  ? 


18  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

— Oh,  yes,  two  gallons  whiskey  for  Auld  Jerry's  wake/  and 
so  on  to  the  end  of  the  stick.  Meanwhile  the  clerks  hunted 
and  added  wildly,  the  overcharge  of  twenty  cents  was  actu- 
ally found,  and  the  old  man,  who  did  not  have  a  speaking 
acquaintance  with  the  alphabet,  settled  up  and  cut  a  new 
stick." 

And  now  I  come  to  the  saddest  story  of  all,  the  begin- 
ning of  the  Civil  War.  There  was  no  telegraph  in  those  days, 
and  our  mail  by  boat,  via  Indianola,  was  often  overdue,  but 
in  due  time  the  news  of  bombardment  of  Sumter  came,  and  in 
a  day  the  peace  of  not  only  the  nation,  but  of  our  little  town 
was  gone.  A  great  part  of  our  population  being  of  foreign 
birth,  naturally  supported  the  Government,  which  gave  them 
liberty  and  protection,  while  others,  born  under  a  Southern 
sky,  ardently  espoused  the  cause  of  their  people,  and  the  sun 
which  had  shone  so  merrily  as  it  peeped  over  the  waves  that 
morning,  went  sadly  to  bed,  leaving  in  darkness  a  sadly 
divided  city. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  19 


CHAPTER  V. 

Civil  War— 1861. 

The  bugle  sounded  and  the  cavalry  sprang  into  life. 
Drums  beat  the  long  roll  and  the  infantry  hep,  hep,  to  the 
command  of  its  officers.  Captain  Wm.  Maltby,  with  his 
Lieutenants  McDonough  and  Russell,  and  a  force  of  men, 
sailed  over  and  fortified  Aransas  Pass.  The  ladies  of  the 
city  got  together  and  fashioned  a  Confederate  flag.  This 
flag  was  presented  from  the  old  Court  House  steps,  to  the 
Company  of  Captain  Neal.  The  flag  was  presented  by  Miss 
Mary  Woessner,  who  stood  on  the  steps  surrounded  by  her 
schoolgirl  friends,  all  dressed  in  white,  and  the  hardy  war- 
riors stood  ranked  below,  for  only  warriors  dwelt  on  the 
frontier  of  this  day.  The  banner  was  presented  in  a  neat 
speech,  which  voiced  the  sentiment  of  her  hearers.  A  new 
nation  had  been  born  ;  here  was  her  emblem.  W.  B.  Wrather 
received  the  flag  on  behalf  of  the  Company,  and  promised 
to  carry  it  to  victory  or  death.  The  wildest  enthusiasm  pre- 
vailed, and  again  the  town  was  a  military  camp. 

The  blockading  fleet  arrived  at  the  two  Passes,  Corpus 
and  Aransas,  and  promptly  bottled  Corpus  Christi.  Federals 
landed  and  established  camp  on  the  southern  end  of  Mustang 
Island,  at  Corpus  Pass,  over  which  bar  they  brought  light 
draught  vessels,  both  armies  at  times  visiting  the  Islands. 

We  quote  from  Confederate  Military  History,  Texas 
Volume :  "On  May  3,  1863,  the  enemy  attempted  to  land  on 
St.  Joseph's  Island,  were  repelled  by  small  force  commanded 
by  Captains  E.  E.  Hobby  and  B.  F.  Neal.  Colonel  A.  M. 
Hobby,  Commander  at  Corpus  Christi,  reports  that  the  men 
were  exposed  to  heavy  rain  and  without  food.  They  num- 
bered sixty-four,  armed  with  forty  guns.  The  enemy  was 
many,  the  three  boats  coming  in  single  file.  The  first  launch 
was  captured,  with  six  new  Sharp  rifles  and  cartridge  boxes 
and  one  ammunition  chest.  The  other  boats  fleeing  back  to 
the  fleet;  the  captured  boat  was  dragged  across  the  Island 
to  Aransas  Bay.  Of  more  importance  was  the  recapture  of 


20  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

ten  bales  of  cotton,  which  had  been  confiscated  at  some  point 
on  the  coast,  by  the  enemy  and  placed  there  pending  ship- 
ment North,  for  cotton  sent  to  Mexican  border  meant  shoes, 
clothes,  food,  medicines,  ammunition.  At  that  date  cotton 
and  gold  were  synonymous  terms,  with  cotton  slightly  in  the 
lead.  To  the  Union  Camp  on  Mustang  went  the  citizens  who 
refused  to  accept  the  Confederacy,  where  they  were  given 
shelter,  and  later  transportation  to  New  Orleans." 

I  am  wrong  in  saying  that  all  of  our  foreign  born  citi- 
zens stood  by  the  old  flag,  there  were  notable  exceptions.  Of 
names  I  can  call  to  mind  are  the  good  and  old  names  of  Von 
Blucher,  of  same  family  as  he  of  Waterloo ;  Colonel  Loven- 
skiold,  a  highly  educated  gentleman  at  one  time  a  teacher 
here ;  John  Uehlinger,  for  many  years  after  the  war  a  lead- 
ing merchant;  August  Ricklefsen,  who  died  many  years 
since ;  Andrew  Dove,  a  native  of  Bonny  Scotland,  and  un- 
doubtedly others  whom  the  writer  did  not  know.  The  names 
mentioned  are  all  borne  today  in  Corpus  Christi  by  good 
people,  representative  people,  hence  knowledge  of  them. 

To  Corpus  Pass,  to  run  the  bar  for  the  United  States 
Government,  as  Pilot,  came  one  Captain  Grant,  and  with  him 
his  family.  After  the  war  he  remained  on  the  Island  and 
became  a  cattle  raiser.  His  house  became  a  landmark  to  all 
Bay  folks,  hunting  parties  and  sight-seers,  for  its  unbounded 
hospitality.  The  Captain  and  his  good  wife  have  gone  to 
their  reward,  the  children  have  founded  homes  nearer  the 
haunts  of  men,  and  the  old  home,  like  the  shallow  Pass,  is 
deserted. 

The  cry  of  the  sea  bird  and  the  moan  of  the  wave  is  the 
only  sound  to  be  heard  today  on  the  spot  where  half  a 
century  ago  armed  men  and  ships  kept  watch  on  a  hostile 
coast.  South  of  Mustang  Island  lies  Isla  del  Padre,  rich  in 
legends  •  of  pirates  and  buried  treasure,  and  in  years  agone, 
after  a  storm  at  sea,  coins  might  be  (and  were)  picked  up 
on  the  Gulf  shore,  Spanish  coins  worn  smooth  by  the  waters. 
They  probably  came  from  some  long  forgotten  wreck,  as  it 
was  gradually  torn  apart  by  the  raging  waters,  mute  messen- 
gers from  the  past,  of  the  days  when  Spain  held  sovereignty 
of  the  Southern  seas.  This  is  the  only  treasure  ever  reported. 

This  Father  of  Islands  reaches  southward  to  the  Mexi- 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  21 

can  border,  and  to  it  came,  in  those  days,  traders  willing  to 
do  business  with  either  side,  traders  of  various  wares,  but 
principally  cattle  dealers,  not  particular  as  to  whose  cattle, 
gathering  herds  on  the  mainland  by  the  light  of  the  moon, 
crossing  them  by  fords  across  Laguna  Madre,  and  selling 
them  to  the  enemy  for  use  of  camp  and  fleet.  The  owners 
of  the  cattle  objected  to  this  traffic.  An  expedition  was 
organized  to  capture  the  Mexican  bandits  engaged  in  it. 
They  reached  the  vicinity  of  the  camp  and  were  carefully 
advancing  when  the  freebooters,  who  had  been  warned  by 
pickets,  fired  upon  them  from  ambush,  from  the  sandhills. 
Two  men  were  killed  by  the  first  volley  and  the  surprise 
threw  the  party  into  a  panic.  They  gathered  up  their  dead 
and  began  the  march  home.  We  never  heard  the  name  of 
one  of  the  men  killed.  The  other  was  Lawrence  Dunn,  and 
to  his  widow  and  little  children  came  the  terrible  news.  Mr. 
Dunn  and  wife,  a  few  years  earlier,  had  left  all  the  comforts 
of  civilization,  and  sought  fortune  in  the  Western  wilds,  and 
this  was  the  parting  of  the  young  wife  and  husband,  she 
alone  to  care  for  the  young  family. 

Truly,  we  of  this  day  cannot  realize  what  the  women  of 
that  day  suffered,  one  long  agony  of  suspense  and  fear.  Later 
another  scouting  party  went  down  and  captured  two  young 
men,  deserters,  making  their  way  to  the  enemy.  They  were 
brought  back,  tried  by  courtmartial,  and  hanged  to  a  tree, 
near  where  Mesquite  Street  crosses  the  Texas-Mexican 
Railroad  tracks.  They  were  buried  beneath  the  tree,  which 
shortly  died  (as  trees,  according  to  tradition,  do  when  a 
human  being  is  hanged  to  their  branches),  and  the  exact  spot 
where  two  young  lives  went  out  in  dishonor  was  lost 
trace  of.  That  some  of  the  citizens  did  not  sanction  the 
findings  of  the  Court  was  proven  several  years  later,  when 
the  Honorable  John  Ireland  was  a  candidate  for  Congress. 
Colonel  Ireland  had  been  in  command  of  Corpus  Christi  at 
the  time  of  the  execution.  During  his  canvass  he  spoke  to 
a  small  audience  here.  The  writer  heard  his  denial  of  being 
responsible  for  this  unfortunate  happening.  In  his  speech 
he  said,  "The  man  who  says  I  had  art  or  part  in  the  death  of 
these  men  is  a  liar.  As  Commander  of  this  Post,  I  was 
ordered  to  see  the  sentence  executed.  As  a  soldier  I  obeyed 


22  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

orders/'  He  was  a  soldier  and  a  patriot,  and  the  fortune  of 
war  brought  this  most  unfortunate  episode  into  his  hands. 
All  this  time  the  small  garrison  at  Aransas  Pass  was 
holding  its  own  against  the  fleet.  On  the  i6th  day  of  No- 
vember, 1863,  Colonel  Bradfute  with  Maltby's  Company  of 
Eighth  Infantry  and  Garrett's  Battalion,  boarded  the  steamer 
Cora  and  attempted  to  rescue  the  garrison  at  that  point,  but 
were  not  able  to  reach  them.  On  November  17,  after  a 
severe  fight,  the  brave  defenders  surrendered  and  were  car- 
ried prisoners  of  war  to  New  Orleans,  where  they  remained 
until  the  close  of  hostilities.  The  way  being  open,  the  ves- 
sels entered  the  bay,  and  Corpus  Christi  was  at  their  mercy. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  23 


CHAPTER  VI. 

The  Last  Flag  of  Truce. 

Prior  to  this  time  we  sent  out  the  last  flag  of  truce  ever 
sent  out  by  Confederates  from  here.  The  story  was  told 
me  by  one  of  the  bearers  of  the  flag,  an  old  Bay  Captain, 
member  of  the  Hobby  Regiment  at  that  time.  This  is  Cap- 
tain Hawley's  story :  "I  was  ordered  to  get  a  boat  and  crew 
and  go  on  a  cruise  with  Captain  Mann.  I  secured  a  little  sail 
boat  and  a  crew  of  two  men  and  waited  at  Central  Wharf 
for  orders.  The  Captain  came  down,  the  white  flag  was 
raised,  and  we  were  off,  envied  by  every  man  in  sight.  We 
felt  jubilant,  for  we  were  to  have  a  view  of  the  enemy,  and 
the  old  familiar  Gulf.  All  went  well,  we  reached  the  Pass, 
sailed  boldly  out  and  headed  for  the  vessel  on  duty  as 
Blockader.  When  within  a  hundred  yards  the  order  to  halt 
came  from  her  decks.  We  lowered  sail.  'What  boat  is  this?' 
came  next.  'Flag  of  truce/  answered  our  Captain.  'Come 
aboard/  was  the  next  order.  We  lowered  our  yawl,  the 
Captain  took  his  seat,  and  I  and  one  of  the  crew  took  the 
oars.  We  rowed  to  the  side  of  the  vessel  and  he  climbed 
aboard.  A  sentinel  on  deck  looked  over  the  side  and  called, 
'Hey,  you,  come  aboard/  as  he  pointed  his  gun  in  our  direc- 
tion, and  looked  fierce.  We  wonderingly  obeyed,  and  when 
we  stepped  on  deck  the  Captain  was  getting  his.  The  crew 
was  having  fun  at  his  expense.  He  was  dressed  as  became 
a  dashing  cavalry  officer  of  the  South,  grey  uniform,  soft 
hat  with  plume,  gauntlets  and  silver  spurs.  Unchided  by  the 
marine  officers,  the  sailors  were  making  fun  of  the  angry 
officer,  his  communication  refused  by  the  officer  in  command 
of  the  vessel,  who  threatened  to  hang  the  whole  Rebel  gang. 
About  this  time  I  saw  a  boat's  crew  going  over  our  little 
vessel.  They  ran  her  in  near  shore,  setting  fire  to  her. 

"Captain  Mann  pointed  to  our  little  flag  of  peace,  and 
said  things  about  usages  of  civilized  warfare,  but  was  ordered 
below.  My  comrade  and  myself  were  ordered  into  a  small 
boat,  where  we  found  the  remainder  of  our  crew,  one  man. 


24  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

We  were  carried  to  a  nearby  transport  which  landed  us  later 
in  prison  in  New  Orleans.  I  never  saw  Captain  Mann  after 
our  hurried  parting  on  ;ship,  though  he  survived  the  war. 
Though  he  used  lurid  language,  derogatory  to  the  flag,  the 
Yank  and  that  particular  crew,  they  did  not  carry  out 
their  threat  of  hanging  him.  After  getting  on  the  transport 
and  having  time  to  think,  the  ludicrous  side  of  it  struck  one  of 
my  crew,  as  to  the  desire  of  Corpus  Christi  citizens  to  come 
with  us.  He  commenced  to  laugh,  then  to  roll,  and  we  could 
only  get  from  him,  'John  Bell  wanted  to  come,  Sam  wanted 
to  come,  Miss  Brown  told  me  to  beg  a  little  coffee  from  them 
for  her/  His  conduct  attracted  the  notice  of  the  crew.  The 
wily  fellow  seeing  this,  kept  it  up,  and  actually  got  released 
and  sent  back  to  the  Texas  Coast  as  insane." 

In  speaking  of  different  men  as  Captain,  let  me  explain 
that  at  that  date  almost  every  man  you  met  had  this  prefix. 
Captains  were  as  common  here  as  were  Colonels  in  Ken- 
tucky, as  the  greater  part  of  our  men  worked  on  the  bay, 
and  had  boats  of  various  sizes  and  descriptions,  so  Private 
Hawley  of  Hobby's  Regiment  was  known  as  Captain  Haw- 
ley  in  civil  circles.  He  came  here  just  prior  to  the  war  to 
work  on  a  dredge  boat  belonging  to  his  father,  who  had  a 
contract  of  opening  a  channel  from  Aransas  Pass  up  to  the 
city.  This  dredge  was  new,  and  its  owner  had  placed  his 
moderate  fortune  of  about  twenty-seven  thousand  dollars 
in  it.  Some  of  its  machinery  was  invented  by  himself.  At 
the  beginning  of  trouble,  the  elderly  owner  went  North,  the 
son  remained  to  keep  watch  over  the  boat  which  was  laid  up 
at  what  is  known  as  shell  bank,  in  Corpus  Christi  Bay.  Later 
the  enemy,  on  its  first  trip  into  the  bay,  burned  her  to  the 
water's  edge.  Although  the  son  had  joined  in  the  war  with 
the  South,  the  father  was  a  staunch  Union  man,  but  he  never 
received  a  cent  for  his  loss,  or  the  work  he  had  done  previous 
to  war.  The  work  on  the  channel  was  stopped  for  half  a 
century.  In  1910,  the  Bowers  Dredging  Company  arrived 
with  two  dredges  to  deepen  our  channel  from  Aransas  Pass 
to  Corpus  Christi. 

I  find  by  consulting  Confederate  Military  History,  that 
the  Federals  bombarded  the  city  on  August  7,  1862.  That 
they  must  have  entered  by  Corpus  Pass  is  obvious  as  the 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST:  25 

defenses  at  Aransas  Pass  did  not  surrender  until  the  follow- 
ing day.  Non-combatants  had  been  notified  to  leave,  and  had 
gone  out  to  camp  in  a  grove  about  three  miles  west  of  town. 
There  was  more  noise  than  damage  to  life  in  the  assault  on 
the  city.  One  man  of  the  Confederate  cavalry  was  killed  by  a 
round  shot.  He  fell  at  about  the  intersection  of  Chaparral 
and  Power  Streets.  Many  houses  were  struck,  but  being  of 
adobe,  not  much  damage  was  done.  Fortunately  no  fires  were 
started.  Many  of  the  shots  fired  in  that  day  are  still  to  be 
seen.  Notably,  two  unexploded  shells  on  the  lawn  of  E.  T. 
Merriman,  on  Water  Street. 

Some  ludicrous  incidents  occurred  during  the  fight.  One 
man  nailed  to  his  bed  with  rheumatism,  in  the  upper  story 
of  a  building  (still  standing),  on  the  corner  of  Chaparral 
and  Peoples  Streets,  refused  to  be  moved,  said  he  preferred 
death  to  the  pain  of  being  lifted  to  a  stretcher.  A  round 
shot  struck  the  house,  passing  a  few  feet  above  him.  He 
arose  with  a  bound,  cleared  the  stairs  in  a  couple  of  jumps, 
and  led  the  party  of  belated  stragglers  up  and  over  the  hill, 
and  got  into  the  camp  ahead  of  the  field,  and  from  that  day 
until  his  death,  years  later,  he  never  had  a  tinge  of  his  old 
rheumatic  enemy.  This  is  true  to  the  letter. 

A  warehouse  in  which  hides  were  stored  was  struck 
by  an  exploding  shell,  and  hides  filled  the  air.  A  Johnny 
Rebel  legging  it  nearby  glanced  over  his  shoulder  and  yelled, 
"My  God,  they  are  shooting  goat  skins  at  us."  The  Con- 
federates returned  the  fire,  but  being  poorly  armed,  did  little 
harm.  One  battery  was  stationed  at  the  foot  of  Belden 
Street.  G.  B.  Williams  and  James  McKenzie  were  of  this 
command.  Mr.  Williams  told  me  that  on  the  night  before 
the  fight  they  were  drilled,  the  commands  being  whispered, 
fearing  to  draw  the  enemy's  fire,  so  near  were  they.  One 
lady  still  with  us,  told  me  she  remained  under  fire  during  the 
entire  time.  She  was  about  a  mile  from  town  with  her 
young  sister  who  was  very  sick  with  fever.  The  phyiscian 
said  to  move  the  patient  meant  death,  and  this  brave  woman 
and  the  doctor  remained  by  the  bedside.  Shot  and  shell  fell 
in  the  yard,  but  they  were  unharmed.  To  add  to  her  trials, 
her  husband  was  in  the  beleaguered  port  of  Aransas,  which 
was  surrendered  the  next  day,  and  long  weeks  must  elapse 


26  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

before  she  could  get  news  of  his  fate.  He  returned  at  the 
close  of  the  War,  and  as  a  leading  jurist  and  District  Judge, 
was  one  of  our  most  respected  townsmen.  Judge  J.  C.  Rus- 
sell, pioneer  and  soldier,  was  known  to  all  the  Southwest. 

The.  enemy  finally  landed  near  the  reef  and  under  cover 
of  the  guns  of  the  fleet,  marched  down  and  occupied  the 
town,  the  Rebs  holding  the  brow  of  the  hill.  The  fight  was 
kept  up  all  day.  The  enemy  having  taken  possession  of  the 
light  house,  then  standing  exactly  in  front  of  where  the  Col- 
ored Congregational  Church  now  stands,  posted  a  signal  man 
in  the  tower,  and  held  all  north  of  that  point.  In  the  old 
chronicle  written  by  an  eye-witness,  a  pathetic  incident  of 
the  day  is  related.  The  Confederate  cavalry,  hastily  sum- 
moned from  their  camp  west  of  town,  met  a  man  and  two 
boys  going  out  to  a  nearby  ranch.  These  they  arrested  to 
hold  until  the  fight  was  over.  Tihs  party  had  left  their  home 
near  Salt  Lake  very  early,  knowing  nothing  of  the  immi- 
nent attack  on  the  town.  The  cavalrymen  told  their  prisoner 
that  positively  they  were  suffering  with  hunger.  He  knew 
many  of  them,  and  told  them  to  send  a  man  with  his  son 
to  his  house  and  get  some  bread,  which  was  cooked.  The 
soldier  taking  the  little  fellow  on  his  horse  and  keeping  to 
shelter  of  the  brush,  went  to  get  the  bread-  while  his  regi- 
ment moved  up  to  the  attack.  He  found  a  whole-souled 
woman  at  the  house  who  gave  him  all  the  bread  on  hand, 
and  told  him  she  would  have  more  baked  in  an  hour,  so 
throughout  the  day  came  the  hourly  messenger  to  carry  hot 
bread  to  his  comrades  who  held  the  line.  This  noble  pair 
who  gave  food  to  the  hungry  soldiers  was  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Priour.  Their  children  and  children's  children  are  still  with 
us,  and  the  name  stands  for  honesty  and  integrity  even  unto 
the  third  and  fourth  generations.  Mrs.  Priour  was  an  ac- 
complished woman,  and  taught  the  only  school  open  during 
this  bitter  period.  When  we  pause  to  think  of  the  scarcity 
of  food,  particularly  breadstuff,  we  realize  the  generosity  of 
the  act,  an  unselfishness  truly  grand.  The  poor,  hungry 
cavalrymen  who  accepted  her  bounty  might  at  any  time  have 
laid  down  their  guns  and  stepped  into  a  land  of  plenty,  but 
they  were  men  of  the  South  and  of  a  heroism  unequaled  in 
history,  the  first  people  of  the  earth  to  build  monuments  to 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  27 

defeat,  and  at  the  same  time  build  a  new  South  on  the  ruins 
of  the  old,  and  hold  as  strongly  to  their  customs  and  tradi- 
tions in  defeat  as  they  would  have  done  had  victory  blessed 
them. 

Both  parties  drew  off  at  nightfall  of  this  day  of  much 
fighting,  barren  of  results.  From  this  time  the  little  town 
was  occupied  by  first  one  and  then  the  other. 


28  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


CHAPTER  VII. 

A  Trap  for  the  Enemy. 

The  Rebs  noticed  that  the  enemy  invariably  landed  when 
they  departed,  so  some  Napoleon  of  the  Art  of  War,  laid 
a  trap  for  the  undoing  of  the  party  giving  information  to  the 
enemy.  Under  cover  of  darkness  a  party  of  soldiers  sailed 
across  to  Ingleside.  Next  morning  the  remaining  part  of  the 
Garrison  made  a  pretended  departure.  The  party  in  the  boat 
approached  the  city  across  the  bay  from  the  direction  of  the 
enemy's  stronghold,  beating  up  and  down  in  front  of  the 
city,  they  watched  for  signals.  The  signals  soon  appeared. 
From  the  upstairs  east  window  of  the  old  Seaside  Hotel 
(still  standing)  a  white  sheet  was  hung.  The  boat  stood  off 
and  on  until  the  crew  was  sure  of  their  man,  and  sailing  in 
they  arrested  him  at  the  wharf  where  he  had  come  to  meet 
them,  not  learning  his  mistake  until  they  landed. 

The  old  man  (I  have  forgotten  his  name)  must  have 
felt  as  did  Benedict  Arnold  when  he  heard  of  Andre's  cap- 
ture, and  the  feeling  was  made  more  acute  by  the  suggestion 
of  the  crowd  as  to  a  just  punishment.  Death  was  the  general 
verdict,  the  only  difference  of  opinion  being  as  to  how. 
Everything  including  plain  hanging  was  canvassed.  A  short 
imprisonment  and  a  long  scare  was  what  he  received. 

The  enemy  occasionally  picked  up  a  stray  Johnny  and 
carried  him  off  to  prison,  and  once  the  Johnnies  retaliated 
by  capturing  one  Captain  Kitterege  who  made  himself  ob- 
noxious by  his  too  frequent  visits.  Later  he  fell  into  durance 
vile,  while  foraging  for  eggs  and  butter  at  Flour  Bluff.  I 
do  not  know  anything  more  than  his  capture  by  one  Captain 
Ware,  who  died  a  few  years  since  in  the  Old  Soldiers'  Home 
at  Austin. 

To  a  man  from  Northern  Virginia,  or  the  Army  of 
Tennessee,  our  share  of  the  War  looks  like  the  antics  of 
the  Home  Guard,  but  we  had  just  as  much  enthusiasm  as 
had  the  men  who  stormed  the  heights  of  Gettysburg.  One 
great  drawback  was  our  poverty  of  arms.  With  these  in 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  29 


plenty,  or  sufficient  to  give  each  man  a  gun,  the  enemy  would 
not  have  raided  our  coast. 

I  now  relate  a  story  as  it  was  told  to  me.  As  an  x\meri- 
can,  I  am  ashamed  of  it,  but  inclined  to  believe  it  a  com- 
panion piece  to  the  one  of  the  man  who  signalled  from  the 
Seaside  window. 

A  company  of  negroes  had  landed  in  town  and  gone  on 
a  scouting  trip  a  short  distance  in  the  country.  On  their 
return  four  of  them  were  missing.  The  night  passed,  and 
next  day  and  night.  The  Commander  raved  that  they  had 
been  caught  and  hung  by  the  Rebs.  Going  to  the  prison  he 
ordered  the  prisoners  to  draw  lots,  saying  he  would  retaliate 
by  shooting  an  equal  number.  The  doomed  men  drew  lots 
and  were  actually  on  their  way  to  their  execution  when  the 
four  demoralized  negroes  appeared.  They  had  been  lost  on 
the  prairie.  Whether  the  sentence  would  have  been  carried 
out,  had  they  not  returned,  we  cannot  say.  The  officer  was 
white,  and  we  can  hardly  think  that  such  extreme  cruelty 
would  have  been  resorted  to,  but,  using  the  Mexican  saying, 
"quien  sabe."  It  was  war  times,  and  war  is  horrible,  par- 
ticularly civil  war. 

Our  town  being  in  an  isolated  part  of  the  country, 
and  new,  we  can  understand  that  at  times  personal  matters 
naturally  crept  in,  and  private  feuds  paraded  as  patriotism, 
but  to  the  credit  of  our  people,  I  am  glad  to  say  that  with 
the  exception  of  the  two  boys  hanged  for  desertion,  there 
were  no  executions  during  the  entire  War,  and  by  all  mili- 
tary law,  they  had  forfeited  their  lives. 

The  little  fleet  of  bay  boats  gradually  disappeared,  as 
the  enemy  burned  each  one  as  caught.  Some  incidents  are 
told  of  this  one-sided  warfare.  One  Captain  Sands  (who 
later  burned  another  boat  on  Corpus  Beach),  was  chased 
down  the  lagoon.  He  had  a  cargo  from  Mexico,  for  Corpus 
Christi,  and  was  attempting  to  steal  up  an  inside  route.  See- 
ing capture  was  certain,  he  headed  his  boat  for  shore.  Hav- 
ing a  bag  of  gunpowder  on  board,  he  laid  a  fuse  and  jumped 
off,  making  his  escape  to  cover,  but  the  expected  explosion 
did  not  come.  Afterward  he  knew  he  had  carefully  laid  his 
train  to  green  coffee. 

Another,  of  a  man  who  attempted  to  pass  danger  line  in 


30  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST: 

darkness.  The  wind  was  light  and  he  sat  and  steered  care- 
fully all  night.  In  the  earliest  dawn  he  noticed  a  familiar 
landmark  as  the  last  thing  he  saw  when  darkness  fell.  He 
had  grounded  on  soft  mud  and  had  steered  a  standing  boat 
throughout  the  night.  Not  relishing  a  chance  at  prison,  he 
too  waded  to  safety,  leaving  the  boat  to  its  sure  fate. 

Great  activity  was  practiced  by  the  enemy  in  preventing 
the  Rebs  from  making  or  gathering  salt.  The  whole  South 
suffered  from  need  of  this  item,  and  the  writer  remembers 
seeing  the  floors  of  old  smokehouses  dug  up,  and  a  very 
dirty  looking  article  of  salt  extracted  from  the  soil.  This 
was  used  to  cure  meat.  The  very  best  we  could  get  was  a 
coarse  grade,  but  of  course  our  own  people  could  get  salt 
for  home  consumption  from  the  bay,  but  any  attempt  to  boil 
in  quantity  on  bayside  was  promptly  attended  to,  and  little 
bloodless  brushes  with  the  Yanks  kept  us  busy,  they  coming 
and  getting  a  few  prisoners  occasionally,  and  the  town 
changing  hands  continually.  But  the  end  was  near.  Our 
troops  neither  received  nor  expected  pay.  Confederate  money 
had  gone  out  of  circulation.  The  trade  on  the  border  brought 
a  little  specie.  This,  with  "swapping"  articles,  was  our 
medium  of  exchange. 

1  There  were  two  lucky  boys  in  the  cavalry  company 
near  here.  In  the  last  days  of  the  War  the  command  halted 
at  night  and  made  camp  in  what  is  known  as  the  sands.  Two 
of  them  slept  on  one  blanket,  a  little  apart.  What  was  their 
surprise  in  the  morning  to  find  that  the  wind,  eddying  against 
their  bodies,  had  swept  the  sand  away,  and  left  a  little  pile 
of  coin  exposed  near  their  bed.  One  of  the  men  told  me 
that  the  money  was  Mexican  dollars  or  coins  of  early  date. 
That  they  were  in  small  piles,  one  on  another,  as  if  they  had 
been  placed  in  a  box  and  buried,  though  no  sign  of  the  box 
remained.  The  bunkies  divided  the  find,  something  over 
three  hundred  dollars,  equally,  and  had  the  envy  of  com- 
rades while  it  lasted. 

But  the  War  was  over,  though  we  did  not  know  it  until 
some  six  weeks  later,  and  the  last  fight  of  the  War,  the  last 
gun  fired  for  the  lost  cause,  was  on  our  border.  In  February, 
1865,  General  Lew  Wallace,  in  command  of  Federals  at 
Brazos  Santiago,  with  Mr.  Charles  Worthington,  a  Texas 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  31 

Unionist,  met  General  Slaughter  and  Colonel  Ford  of  the 
Rebel  Army  at  Point  Isabel  and  signed  a  local  truce  pact. 
General  Wallace,  to  win  fame  in  later  life  by  writing  "Ben 
Hur,"  proposed  cessation  of  hostilities,  saying  that  if  every 
man  of  this  army  on  both  sides  was  killed  it  would  not  affect 
the  result :  "You,  Colonel  Ford,  keep  your  men  on  your  own 
territory  and  I  will  do  the  same." 

The  Texans  sought  a  spot  where  wood  and  grass  were 
plenty  and  went  into  camp,  keeping  out  a  few  pickets  for 
form's  sake.  Thus  a  couple  of  months  passed.  On  May  12, 
1865,  Ford's  scouts  reported  the  enemy  in  their  territory,  at 
Palmetto  Ranch,  which  they  burned  that  night.  Ford,  never 
slow  in  a  fight,  ordered  an  advance,  and  on  the  I3th  the 
forces  met.  The  fight  soon  became  a  rout,  as  the  Rebs  had 
a  field  battery  of  three  guns  which  did  good  service.  The 
enemy  lost  some  thirty,  dead  and  wounded,  and  one  hundred 
and  thirteen  prisoners.  Getting  near  the  Yanks'  defenses, 
Colonel  Ford  ordered  a  halt,  for  which  he  was  never  for- 
given by  his  men.  They  wanted  to  go  on,  but  the  wary  old 
Indian  fighter  smelled  a  trap.  His  officers  raved,  even  ac- 
cusing him  of  white  feather,  but  halt  they  did,  and  had  not 
quit  shouting  till  the  news  of  Lee's  surrender  came.  Why, 
or  by  whose  order  the  truce  was  broken  was  never  known. 
For  particulars  of  this  last  fight,  officers  and  commands  en- 
gaged, see  Confederate  Military  History,  Texas  Volume. 
History  repeats,  on  this  ground  was  fought  the  first  battles 
of  the  Mexican  War  and  last  of  the  War  of  Secession. 


32  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST: 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

When  the  War  Ended. 

The  War  was  over.  The  enemy  marched  into  town  and 
went  into  camp.  Two  negro  regiments,  officered  by  white 
men,  were  the  Federal  forces.  The  citizens  were  generally 
well  treated  as  compared  with  other  parts  of  the  South. 
Excepting  raids  by  the  negro  soldiers  on  hen  roosts  and  gar- 
dens, and  considerable  thieving  from  residences,  there  was 
no  serious  trouble,  though  in  two  cases  there  came  near 
being  tragedies.  A  negro  going  into  a  yard  for  water,  peeped 
into  the  kitchen  window  and  saw  a  lady  kneading  bread.  He 
stuck  his  head  in  and  demanded  a  loaf.  "Why,"  said  the 
frightened  woman,  "It  is  not  baked,  I  am  just  making  it."  To 
the  woman's  horror,  he  threw  up  his  pistol  and  fired, 
knocking  a  great  piece  of  plaster  from  the  wall,  then  dis- 
appearing before  anyone  came  to  her  aid. 

Another  white  woman  went  to  a  nearby  cabin  to  carry 
food  to  an  old  negro  in  her  employ  who  was  sick.  As  she 
left  the  place  and  turned  to  shut  the  door,  someone  in  the 
dark  fired  three  shots  into  the  door  above  her  head.  No 
harm  was  done  save  to  the  nerves  of  the  poor  near-victim. 

The  officers  of  our  regiments  seem  to  have  been  a  very 
gentlemanly  lot,  and  being  Northern  bred,  of  course  saw 
nothing  wrong  in  commanding  negroes,  believing  they  were 
doing  missionary  work  in  learning  the  ex-slaves  to  be  good 
soldiers  and  citizens.  That  they  would  never  be  the  first 
has  been  proven  time  and  again.  Never  mope  forcibly  than 
in  shooting  up  the  city  of  Brownsville,  a  few  years  since, 
for  the  sole  reason  that  Brownsville  was  in  Texas.  As  to  his 
citizenship,  half  a  century  of  freedom  has  not  proved  him  a 
success. 

Reconstruction  was  on!  Our  people,  as  stated,  fared 
well.  They  were  mostly  foreign  born,  and  few  of  them 
owned  slaves.  Colonel  John  Moore,  in  command  of  a  bat- 
talion camped  near  by,  rode  in  to  surrender  and  make  terms 
for  his  men.  He  found  headquarters  of  the  Yankee  com- 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  33 

mander  established  in  his  residence,  still  standing  on  North 
Water  Beach.  What  bitter  thoughts  must  have  passed 
through  the  mind  of  the  old  Southerner,  a  scholar  and  a 
gentleman  to  his  fingertips,  to  enter  the  door  around  which 
his  chfldren  had  played  in  happy  childhood,  where  he  had 
ever  been  met  by  the  smile  of  a  wife  and  greeting  of  kins- 
men, a  prisoner,  willing  to  meet  his  fate,  asking  for  himself 
nothing,  for  his  men  best  terms  which  might  be  granted. 

The  Commander,  I  am  glad  to  say,  was  a  soldier.  He 
refused  the  Colonel's  sword,  telling  him  it  was  the  fortune 
of  war,  and  to  meet  defeat  as  bravely  as  victory,  and  com- 
plimented the  Southern  Army.  He  told  him  the  terms  of 
surrender  and  invited  him  to  consider  this  his  home  and 
he  (the  Yankee)  as  the  guest.  I  am  sorry  I  cannot  give  the 
name  of  this  noble  officer,  whose  words  of  sympathy  to  his 
vanquished  foe  were  above  jewels  to  the  broken  man.  Yester- 
day a  capitalist,  today  a  stranger  in  his  home,  slaves  freed 
and  the  ruins  of  a  fine  dredge  boat  nearby. 

Colonel  Moore  came  to  Corpus  Christi  to  finance  and 
aid  in  a  scheme  to  make  a  great  seaport  here,  and  if  the 
War  had  not  interfered  the  chances  are  that  we,  and  not 
Galveston,  would  have  been  the  earliest  seaport,  and  the 
story  of  the  great  storm  in  Galveston,  in  which  thousands 
lost  their  lives,  would  have  remained  untold.  The  Colonel 
brought  his  family  back  to  the  old  home  and  he  and  his 
lovable  wife  spent  the  remaining  years  of  their  lives  with  us. 
The  story  of  his  surrender  was  told  to  the  writer  by  his 
daughter,  Mrs.  Conklin,  for  years  a  teacher  in  our  schools. 
She  remembered  vividly  the  early  days  of  the  War,  and  a 
certain  red  silk  dress  of  hers  which  was  used  to  give  color  to 
a  Rebel  flag  which  the  patriotic  ladies  fashioned,  perhaps  the 
one  presented  by  Miss  Woessner,  afterwards  Mrs.  W.  B. 
Wrather. 

The  white  officers  of  the  colored  regiments  formed  a 
club  and  set  up  a  mess  hall  in  a  house,  yet  standing  on  the 
lot  adjoining  and  north  of  the  Methodist  Church,  on  Mes- 
quite  Street,  and  honestly  curbed  as  far  as  possible  the  out- 
lawry of  their  command.  As  the  citizens  did  not  hold  the 
bitterness  of  other  sections  of  the  South,  they  soon  became 
quite  an  acquisition  to  the  society  of  the  little  town.  Some 


34  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

of  the  married  men  brought  their  families,  and  in  the  return 
of  prosperity  the  War  was  almost  forgotten.  The  negro  at 
that  time  was  an  unknown  quantity  to  the  Northern  people. 
The  officers  were  soon  disillusioned. 

But  good  women  came  to  West  Texas,  just  as  they  go 
to  Africa  today,  burning  with  zeal  to  do  the  work  of  the 
Master,  and  to  help  those  poor  people  over  which  the  abo- 
litionist had  howled  for  years.  They  came,  they  saw,  they 
fled.  Uncle  Tom's  Cabin  on  the  stage  and  Uncle  Rastus' 
'  Cabin  on  the  Nueces  was  different.  Besides,  the  negro  had 
no  respect  for  "No  poor  white  trash  what  'sociate  with  nig- 
gers," but  they  started  fair.  The  Congregational  Church, 
which  stands  near  the  site  of  the  old  light  house,  was  built 
for  both  white  and  black  worshipers.  A  very  few  whites 
attended  for  a  while  and  then  it  was  given  over  to  the  negro. 
The  ground  upon  which  it  stands  has  grown  to  be  very 
valuable,  but  the  Northern  Society  who  own  it  refuse  to  sell. 
The  members  of  the  present  day  are  a  very  orderly,  quiet 
people,  not  given  to  holding  all-night  sessions  as  are  their 
more  tuneful  Methodist  and  Baptist  brethren,  who  have  been 
bought  out  and  moved  out  of  sounding  distance.  And  may 
the  old  church  stand  for  many  years,  mute  monument  of 
the  days  gone  by,  and  failure  of  fanatics  to  force  social 
equality  on  a  stricken  people. 

But  the  War  was  over !  The  troops  held  on  the  border 
awaiting  developments  in  Mexico  were  disbanded  when  news 
of  Maximilian's  death  came.  Good-byes  were  said  to  the 
enemies  who  had  become  friends,  and  Johnny  went  march- 
ing home.  But  two  of  the  handsomest  young  officers  were 
held  prisoners  of  war,  and  watched  their  comrades  go,  held 
as  firmly  and  securely  as  was  President  Davis  in  his  prison 
cell  in  Fortress  Monroe,  and  our  grateful  Government  never 
demanded  their  release,  nor  did  they  ever  once  attempt  to 
escape,  for  the  bonds  were  silken  and  the  captors  two  fair 
daughters  of  the  South.  They  became  of  the  South,  veritable 
South  Texans,  living  the  remainder  of  their  days  in  the 
South :  Captain  E.  H.  Wheeler  and  Captain  Barnes  Down- 
ing, both  of  whom  have  answrered  the  last  roll  call,  their 
deaths  regretted  keenly  by  all  who  knew  them. 

Right  here  I  want  to  say  that  various  reasons  have  been 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  35 

given  as  to  a  better  feeling  existing  between  the  North  and 
South,  the  Spanish-American  War  being  one  reason  as- 
signed. That  is  not  the  cause  of  this  feeling,  nor  is  it  the 
lapse  of  time,  for  the  Southerner  has  a  retentive  memory. 
Acquaintance  is  the  cause.  The  people  of  Northern  birth 
who  simply  thought  they  were  taking  their  lives  in  their  own 
hands  when  they  came  South,  found  differently,  made 
friends  and  intimacy  begot  respect.  If  we  had  been  ac- 
quainted we  might  never  have  fought,  but  we  did  fight,  and 
as  Americans,  I  believe  we  are  a  little  proud  of  the  scrap. 
It  was  such  a  war  as  none  but  Americans  could  have  waged, 
and  ended  as  never  a  war  before.  We  all  went  home  and 
to  work  to  make  up  for  lost  time. 

True,  the  Ku  Klux  Klan  gave  a  little  trouble,  but  a 
great  good  was  done  by  them  in  wresting  the  State  from 
negro  rule.  Corpus  Christi  being  out  of  the  black  zone,  did 
not  have  a  Klan,  but  there  were  thirty  thousand  in  the  State. 
The  writer,  at  that  time  in  Houston,  began  to  hear  strange 
stories  from  the  negro  cook.  Even  though  common  sense 
told  us  it  was  a  trick,  it  gave  us  an  uncanny  feeling.  Nightly 
sights  were  seen  by  colored  church-goers,  and  more  par- 
ticularly by  colored  attendants  of  political  meetings.  The 
recital  of  them  caused  creepy  feelings.  A  couple  of  old 
covered  forts  on  Buffalo  Bayou  seemed  favorite  stamping 
grounds  for  spooks.  Imagine  a  crowd  of  darkies  coming 
home  from  a  perfectly  orderly  meeting,  held  nightly,  for 
the  purpose  of  finding  where  to  get  forty  acres  of  land  and 
a  mule,  and  getting  no  nearer  an  understanding  than  that  in 
the  event  of  election  of  certain  Carpetbaggers,  they  would  get 
both  mule  and  land,  and  a  pension,  reported  of  various 
amounts. 

Imagine  the  meeting  closed  after  an  almost  all  night 
session,  and  the  crowd  going  home  in  a  body.  Out  of  the 
fort  issued  groans,  unearthly  cries;  out  pops  a  man  all  in 
white,  without  a  head,  another  with  both  arms  missing,  an- 
other whose  white  clothes  are  covered  with  blood,  while 
flames  issue  from  the  mouth  and  eyes  of  a  black  fellow. 

Another,  but  nobody  to  see  more  of  the  sights ;  a  Gilpin 
race  is  on,  and  no  threat  or  entreaty  will  get  a  darkey  out 
after  nightfall. 


36  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

Nobody  wants  a  mule,  meetings  deserted,  and  the  white 
man  comes  into  his  own,  a  bloodless  victory ! 

The  writer  heard  the  fearsome  stories  in  the  kitchen, 
and  repeated  them  to  a  grave-faced  man  who  headed  the 
table,  also  the  house.  He  had  followed  Lee  and  limped  as 
a  result.  He  seemed  to  take  great  interest  in  the  recitals, 
and  long  afterward  the  writer  knew  that  the  husband  took 
a  little  time  from  his  numerous  lodge  meetings  to  go  to  spook 
festivals  in  the  old  fort,  in  which  there  had  never  been  a 
gun  fired  nor  a  man  hurt ;  and  in  later  years  he  told  of  the 
fun  and  of  the  "wailing  cry  of  distress."  Don't  think  it  was 
ever  published,  this  way  of  giving  the  signal,  drawing  up 
right  arm  and  striking  out  as  if  dealing  a  blow,  you  called, 
"I'm  Sampson,  I'm  Sampson."  At  the  peril  of  your  life,  if 
you  wrere  a  Sampson,  you  must  rush  to  his  rescue. 

A  strange  item  in  the  Houston  Post  caught  my  eye  a 
year  or  so  ago.  Nothing  less  than  a  call  to  arms  of  the  old 
Klan  to  clear  the  city  of  thugs  and  murderers.  Poor  old 
man  who  made  this  call !  The  men  who  rid  the  State  of 
negro  rule  so  many  years  ago,  and  who  kept  the  secret  to 
death,  are  gone,  and  their  like  will  be  seen  no  more. 

Every  effort  was  made  by  officers  of  the  Government 
to  catch  the  Ku  Klux  Klan,  but  every  man  on  the  police 
force  was  a  member.  One  night  the  news  got  out  that  a 
sleuth,  a  Federal  Captain,  had  scared  all  the  secrets  from 
a  badly  frightened  member.  He  and  a  couple  of  detectives 
would  visit  the  lodge  and  get  evidence,  the  scared  member 
planning  to  give  the  boys  a  little  exercise.  They  came  masked 
took  three  extra  seats  in  the  room,  the  only  vacant  ones  by 
the  way,  that  were  not  numbered ;  every  member  had  a 
number  and  sat  in  the  chair  with  the  corresponding  number. 
To  their  surprise  they  were  bound,  carried  down  the  stairs 
and  to  the  banks  of  the  bayou,  where  the  sentence  pro- 
nounced before  leaving  the  hall  was  to  be  executed.  Weight- 
ed by  the  neck,  they  were  to  go  into  twenty  feet  of  muddy 
water.  How  they  pleaded.  After  much  deliberation  and 
wrangling  they  were  spared,  and  if  either  or  all  of  them  are 
living  to  this  day,  I  doubt  if  even  yet  they  could  see  the 
joke,  or  know  that  not  a  man  there  would  have  had  a  hand 
in  murder,  and  were  all  most  prominent  citizens.  That 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  37 

crimes  were  committed  by  masked  men  and  laid  at  the  door 
of  the  Klan  is  true,  but  the  members  were  a  high-minded 
people  and  never  a  crime  was  committed  by  the  sworn  mem- 
bers. They  took  this  method  of  saving  the  South  from  the 
crying  disgrace  of  negro  rule  by  working  on  their  super- 
stition. 

Early  memories  recall  the  first  bicycle  ever  brought  to 
Corpus  Christi,  two  of  them  in  1869,  and  every  lady  turned 
out  to  see  them  on  a  Sunday  afternoon,  and  the  merry  riders 
were  invited  to  stop  at  every  beer  joint  and  refresh.  No 
Sunday  law  those  days !  Perhaps  for  that  reason  they  had 
to  climb  on  a  fence  to  mount,  and  led  a  very  wobbly  way 
down  Preston  Street. 

And  the  first  ball  game !  The  umpire  carried  a  hand- 
book, and  when  a  chap  swatted  the  ball,  grabbed  him  by  the 
shoulder  and  trotted  him  to  first.  The  girls  came  out  and 
walked  past,  and  watched  from  nearby  galleries,  never 
dreaming  that  in  the  years  to  come  ladies  \vould  go  to  ball 
games,  and  one  of  them  at  least  would  give  up  good  money 
for  the  privilege  of  watching  a  game,  and  feel  a  taste  of 
heaven  when  her  team  won  and  a  strong  smell  of  the  other 
place  if  they  lost. 


38  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST: 


CHAPTER  IX. 

First  Carpetbagger  Governor. 

Corpus  Christ!  bears  the  doubtful  honor  of  having  given 
up  the  only  Carpetbagger  Governor  who  ever  misruled 
Texas.  E.  J.  Davis  left  Corpus  Christi  to  fill  the  Governor's 
chair,  and  notwithstanding  his  reputation  throughout  the 
State,  he  was  liked  at  home.  A  polished  gentleman  as  to 
manners,  a  diligent  and  willing  nurse  in  the  fever  epidemic 
of  '67,  he  visited  the  homes  of  the  lowly,  putting  his  hand 
to  the  work  as  it  came.  An  old  friend  of  mine  remembers 
him  with  gratitude.  He  came  to  her  assistance  and  with  his 
own  hands  helped  to  lift  a  dying  sister  to  a  cot,  and  helped 
carry  it  a  distance  of  three  blocks  that  the  sister  might  spend 
her  last  moments  with  her  mother,  who  was  also  low  with 
the  fever. 

But  he  went  to  Austin,  the  choice  of  the  Carpetbagger, 
and  Corpus  Christi  knew  him  no  more.  On  the  night  before 
the  departure  of  his  family,  a  lovely  moonlight  night,  Mrs. 
Davis  walked  with  a  friend  on  Broadway,  in  front  of  the 
Davis  home,  yet  standing  with  its  old-fashioned  dormer 
windows. 

That  the  moonlight  begets  strange  fancies  we  all  know, 
but  the  old  moon  was  more  fantastic  than  usual  that  night, 
and  the  proud  woman,  starting  on.  a  journey  to  public 
obloquy,  dreamed  dreams.  She  told  her  friend  that  this 
journey  was  only  the  first  step  to  the  White  House,  and  to 
this  moon  craziness  only  can  we  ascribe  future  events. 

Texas  was  under  negro  rule,  who  were  led  by  unscrupu- 
lous white  men.  The  law  wras  a  dead  letter,  and  only  that 
the  former  slaves  had  a  fear  of,  and  respect  for  former  own- 
ers, did  the  white  race  escape  untold  horrors.  As  it  was  the 
situation  was  bad  enough.  Murders  were  committed  and 
towns  were  placed  under  martial  law  and  compelled  to  pay 
immense  sums  of  money.  When  the  right  of  franchise  was 
granted  to  ex-Rebs,  those  officers  and  gentlemen  were  forced 
to  register  before  negro  officials. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  39 

Many  of  them,  like  Huck  Finn's  father,  declared  they 
would  not  vote,  but  better  counsel  prevailed,  and  vote  they 
did,  early  and  often,  and  not  only  this,  but  voted  the  negro 
with  them ;  not  with  the  negro's  consent,  but  he  had  been 
told  to  vote  the  blue  ticket,  and  he  voted  without  knowing 
that  the  white  man's  ticket  had  been  printed  on  their  exact 
shade  of  blue  paper.  Thet  story  goes  that  when  the  result 
was  heard  in  Austin,  Governor  Davis  wildly  telegraphed  to 
General  Grant  to  send  troops  to  subdue  the  wild  and  woolly 
Texans,  but  that  great  and  truly  good  man  refused  to  inter- 
fere, and  down  from  the  wall  came  his  picture,  and  the  lady 
of  the  mansion  put  her  foot  through  it.  Exit  E.  J.  Davis 
from  the  Texas  horizon.  Sound  the  loud  timbrels  from 
desert  to  sea !  Texas  had  triumphed  and  her  people  were 
free  after  five  years  of  sheol.  What  wonder  that  we  got 
a  reputation. 

There  were  some  scores  which  could  be  wiped  out  in 
blood  only.  Mrs.  Davis  was  a  daughter  of  the  South,  and 
I  am  told  that  her  family  were  Southerners.  One,  a  Captain 
Britton,  a  Confederate  surgeon,  died  here  in  the  epidemic  of 
'67,  and  the  family  name  is  perpetuated  by  the  Britton- 
Motts.  They  were  of  the  earliest  settlers,  and  I  have  heard 
that  her  father  was  a  Colonel  in  the  regular  army.  A  family 
of  high  standing,  and  we  will  lay  it  all  to  moon  madness 
and  let  it  go  at  that. 

No  man  or  woman  either  knew  at  that  day  that  in  less 
than  half  a  century  these  bleeding,  conquered  people  would 
shine  throughout  the  world  as  something  new  in  history, 
who,  by  their  industry  and  thrift  would  build  a  new  South. 
Hands  unused  to  toil  grasped  the  plow  and  wrung  wealth 
from  the  bosom  of  old  mother  earth.  Trades,  hitherto 
despised  (no  aristocratic  Southerner  thought  of  a  trade  for 
his  sons,  nor  would  he  have  allowed  him  to  learn  one),  were 
fostered,  and  with  the  aid  of  the  dollars  of  our  Northern 
brother,  who  was  willing  to  swap  them  for  a  part  of  the 
rich  land,  an  era  of  prosperity  came,  and  men  and  women 
look  back  to  those  days  with  pride,  though  they  were  tinged 
with  horror. 

But  back  to  Corpus  Christi  again.  In  July  of  1867,  a 
man  came  to  Corpus  Christi  on  horseback  from  Indianola, 


40  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

crossing  the  reef  on  the  wagon  road,  and  entering  town  put 
up  at  the  largest  hotel,  the  Ziegler  House.  Next  day  he  was 
sick,  and  the  kind-hearted  people  visited  him,  and  as  was  the 
custom  of  that  day,  nursed  him.  Less  than  thirty-six  hours 
later  he  was  a  corpse,  and  the  dread  yellow  jack  was  feeling 
his  way  into  every  home.  Within  ten  days  he  was  holding 
the  poor  little  helpless  town  in  his  relentless  grasp,  and  the 
scenes  of  '54  were  again  being  enacted.  The  daily,  twice, 
thrice  pilgrimages  to  the  old  cemetery,  until  one  day  in 
August  there  was  a  death  rate  of  eighteen.  In  a  white  popu- 
lation of  scarce  four  hundred,  whole  families  died.  In  two 
cases  in  the  new  Catholic  Cemetery,  recently  opened,  hus- 
band and  wife  were  found  buried  in  the  same  grave.  Of 
these  couples,  one  left  two  little  girls.  A  gentleman  present 
at  the  time  told  me  that  the  saddest  sight  of  the  time  was 
these  little  ones  getting  up  in  the  morning  and  hunting  for 
their  parents  through  the  house  and  yard.  Both  had  died 
during  the  night  and  had  been  removed  to  await  burial.  But 
thank  God  for  the  Christian  faith  of  our  people,  the  orphans 
were  cared  for  and  none  were  neglected ! 

One  of  our  greatest  losses  in  this  epidemic  was  the 
death  of  our  War-time  Priest,  Father  Ganard.  He  had  re- 
mained with  his  people  during  the  bitter  days  of  the  War, 
aiding  the  women  and  children,  keeping  a  little  school,  Mrs. 
Priour's,  cheered  and  helped  by  his  presence  and  advice. 
When  the  fever  came  he  worked  day  and  night,  not  only 
with  his  own  people,  but  with  any  who  needed  help.  He 
died  as  he  had  lived,  literally  in  harness.  Died,  no  !  He  went 
to  his  rest,  mourned  by  every  man,  woman  and  child  in 
Corpus  Christi,  of  every  faith,  for  Father  Ganard  was  a 
Saint  who  loved  mankind,  and  like  many  of  his  kind,  went 
to  his  reward,  with  the  noble  character  of  his  deeds  known 
only  to  his  narrow  surroundings.  But  today  the  eye  of  the 
gray-haired  man  or  woman  who  knew  him  will  light  with 
love  when  they  hear  his  name,  and  everyone  can  tell  of  some 
simple  childish  pleasure  which  he  had  given.  Anything  of 
interest  to  them,  was  never  too  small  to  engage  the  learned 
Father's  attention.  One  woman  told  me  this  story.  Her 
hair  was  white,  but  she  remembered  her  very  first  pair  of 
shoes.  Her  mother  got  them  for  her.  She  took  the  lovely 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  41 

things  to  show  to  Father  Canard,  as  the  modern  miss  would 
exhibit  a  watch  or  a  locket.  He  duly  admired,  then  sug- 
gested fitting  them,  but  the  poor  little  feet  must  be  washed, 
and  three  times  were  they  scrubbed  before  Father  agreed 
they  would  do.  Then  stockings  must  be  had,  and  home  again 
she  went,  leaving  the  precious  shoes  with  the  Father.  Back 
again,  and  another  wash  to  take  off  the  'recent  travel  stains, 
the  good  Father  advising  and  helping.  She  was  shod,  a  girl 
of  ten,  for  the  first  time,  and  felt  as  if  "I  could  never  take  a 
step,"  she  said.  I  thought  of  this  incident  a  short  time  since, 
seeing  a  mother  purchase  a  pair  of  shoes  for  her  daughter. 
The  latter  day  mother  paid  four  dollars  for  the  shoes,  and 
had  the  clerk  mark  the  price  at  six,  telling  me  the  daughter 
would  not  wear  the  shoes  if  they  cost  less.  But  times  change, 
and  perhaps  it  is  better  to  wear  shoes  at  six  per  pair  than 
no  shoes  at  all.  But  I  am  old-fashioned,  and  think  what  was 
lacking  in  shoes  in  those  days,  was  made  up  into  man  and 
woman,  and  human  kindness.  Father  Canard  sleeps  in  the 
Catholic  Cemetery  here,  and  we  love  to  think  of  him  as  a 
Southerner,  but  he  was  too  good  and  great  to  belong  to  one 
section,  and  his  memory  is  a  heritage  of  all. 


42  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST^ 


CHAPTER  X. 

Some  Early  Day  Merchants. 

Just  after  the  close  of  hostilities  the  merchants  came 
back,  and  with  them  new  ones  to  establish  business  here. 
Pat  Whelan,  for  nine  terms  Sheriff  of  Nueces  County,  and 
one  of  the  most  efficient  officers  in  the  State,  gives  me  the 
following  list  of  merchants  in  business  here  at  the  time  he 
came  in  1866:  E.  Morris,  J.  B.  Mitchell,  George  Evans,  P. 
Hoffman,  W.  N.  Staples,  Felix  Noessel,  John  Woessner,  P. 
Doddridge,  banker,  C.  Kale,  and  then  or  shortly  after  there 
was  William  Headen,  afterwards  Headen  &  Mallory,  and 
M.  Lichtenstein,  a  dry  goods  merchant,  whose  sons  today 
have  the  largest  store  in  the  city,  or  as  for  that  matter,  in 
this  section,  and  which  wrould  be  a  credit  to  the  largest  city  in 
the  State.  Money  was  plentiful  in  those  days.  Bags  of 
silver  and  golden  eagles  were  the  medium  of  exchange.  No 
paper  money  for  the  trader  in  that  time. 

Just  about  the  close  of  the  hostilities  a  party  of  horse 
traders  visited  the  lower  country,  buying  a  great  drove  of 
animals.  They  paid  in  notes  on  defunct  Confederacy.  The 
news  went  out  that  paper  money  was  no  "bueno,"  and  to 
this  day  no  Mexican  wants  green  backs,  checks  or  anything 
but  hard  money.  About  this  time  the  Western  Union  Tele- 
graph Company  erected  a  line  to  Brownsville  via  Corpus 
Christi.  So  eager  were  our  people  to  get  the  news  that  the 
line  came  in  as  the  crow  flies,  across  lots.  This  gave  our 
city  trouble  later  when  telephone  and  electric  wires  came,  but 
all  is  satisfactorily  arranged  now,  each  company  having  its 
territory  specified. 

The  next  thing  of  importance  to  shake  the  city  was  the 
proposal  to  build  the  Texas-Mexican  Railroad  from  here  to 
the  border,  at  Laredo.  Meetings  were  held,  and  strange  as 
it  may  seem  now,  the  project  was  hotly  opposed  by  some 
good  citizens.  What !  Do  away  with  our  \vagon  trade ! 

Never .  Even  up  to  recent  years  the  writer  has  heard 

some  of  the  old-timers  bewail  the  new  times,  and  they  never 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  43 

realized  that  if  we  did  not  build  the  road,  other  towns  would. 
Our  wagon  trade  was  doomed,  and  the  long  line  of  wagons, 
with  their  picturesque  drivers,  who  had  broken  and  kept  the 
trail  for  nearly  two  centuries,  were  soon  to  make  their  last 
journey  across  boundless  prairies  where  the  bison,  the  elk 
and  the  deer  roamed  free.  They,  like  the  wagons,  were 
doomed.  The  buffalo  is  extinct  in  his  wild  state,  though  forty 
years  ago  the  writer  purchased  dried  buffalo  flesh  from  gro- 
cery stores  in  Corsicana,  and  saw  wragons  fitting  out  to  go 
on  hunt  for  his  hide. 

A  promoter  by  the  name  of  Uriah  Lott  planned  our 
first  railroad,  and  Captain  Richard  King  of  Rancho  Santa 
Gertrudis  financed  the  project  for  the  first  forty  miles.  Cap- 
tain King  was  at  this  time  one  of  the  wealthiest  men  in  this 
section.  His  herds  grazed  upon  thousands  of  acres  of  free 
domain.  He  operated,  and  with  his  then  partner,  Captain 
Kenedy,  owned  one  or  more  steamboats  on  the  Rio  Grande. 

Captain  King  stood  for  progress,  and  his  presence  in 
this  section  was  a  public  boon.  In  those  days  herds  were 
driven  overland  to  Kansas  to  market,  and  King  and  Kenedy 
were  perhaps  the  largest  shippers  of  the  State.  During  the 
War  the  enemy  made  a  special  raid  from  Brazos  Santiago  to 
his  ranch  home  to  capture  him.  He  was  absent,  but  in  the 
early  morning  light  they  saw  a  man  on  the  gallery,  and 
without  warning  shot  the  faithful  servant  to  death,  thus 
showing  their  fear  of  the  man  they  sought.  His  life  reads 
like  a  romance,  and  if  told  to  the  letter,  would  not  be 
credited. 

One  story  I  will  tell  as  it  was  printed  in  the  Corpus 
Christi  paper  at  the  time.  The  Captain  had  been  in  Corpus 
Christi,  and  while  here  hired  a  newly  landed  German  boy  to 
drive  his  coach.  The  party  left  the  city  and  drove  out  to 
the  Petronilla  Creek,  stopping  for  lunch  on  the  near  side  of 
the  stream,  contrary  to  usual  custom  of  pulling  up  opposite 
bank  before  stopping.  After  an  hour's  rest  they  started  on 
the  last  half  of  the  journey,  and  as  they  breasted  the  oppo- 
site slope,  were  fired  on  from  ambuscade.  The  poor  Dutch 
boy  ended  his  journey  right  there,  being  killed  instantly. 
The  spirited  horses,  scared  by  the  shots,  ran  away,  but  fortu- 
nately kept  to  the  road.  Out  of  the  brush  rode  four  Mexi- 


44  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

cans  and  gave  wild  chase,  but  the  ranch  was  reached  with  no 
further  loss.  Next  day  when  officers  reached  the  spot  of 
attack  they  found  that  the  scheme  had  been  well  laid.  The 
men  had  posted  themselves  in  easy  range  and  cut  away  all 
intervening  twigs  so  as  to  command  the  usual  shade  where 
travelers  stopped.  Only  the  stopping  short  of  the  usual 
place  saved  the  party  from  swift  death.  This  was  only  one 
of  his  hairbreadth  escapes,  but  he  did  escape  his  wily  ene- 
mies, the  Mexicans,  who  did  not  want  white  men  in  the 
grazing  country,  and  were  the  direct  opposite  of  Captain 
King.  They  were  prepared  to  fight  progress,  are  fighting  it 
today  in  the  Rio  Grande  Valley,  but  like  the  buffalo,  their 
day  is  done,  and  go  they  must. 

Captain  King  died  some  years  since  in  San  Antonio,  sur- 
rounded by  his  family  and  loving  friends,  and  was  buried 
in  that  city.  His  former  partner,  Captain  Kennedy,  died  a 
few  years  later  in  Corpus  Christi.  He  sleeps  in  Brownsville, 
where  the  murmur  of  the  Rio  Grande  sings  solemn  requiem 
to  the  memory  of  a  man  who  made  history  on  her  bosom. 
The  names  of  King  and  Kenedy  will  be  remembered  as 
long  as  English  and  Spanish  are  spoken  on  the  border. 

About  this  time  there  was  much  trouble  in  the  adjacent 
country  from  raids  of  Mexican  freebooters,  the  natural 
aftermath  of  civil  war.  On  both  sides  of  the  Rio  Grande 
robbery  and  murder  were  frequent,  and  men  and  boys  going 
out  to  drive  in  the  milch  cows  buckled  on  a  six-shooter  or 
carried  a  gun.  One  sad  day  four  coffins  were  carried  to 
the  cemetery  in  wagons  draped  in  black.  These  young  men 
were  found  murdered  at  a  ranch  on  Laguna  Madre,  two  of 
them  German  boys  who  had  only  gone  down  there  a  few 
days  earlier  to  do  some  carpenter  work.  Their  tool  boxes 
had  never  been  opened,  showing  that  the  robbers  must  have 
arrived  about  the  same  time  they  reached  the  ranch,  Penes- 
gal  by  name,  owned,  we  believe,  by  Captain  Kenedy.  The 
Sheriff's  posse  who  went  out  to  investigate,  found  that  rob- 
bery was  the  motive.  Among  other  booty  a  sugar  barrel  had 
been  emptied.  A  broad  trail  led  southward,  along  which 
every  little  way  a  little  spot  of  brown  sugar  was  seen,  as  if 
carried  in  a  slightly  leaky  package.  Southward  into  the 
Brownsville  road  the  trail  was  lost,  all  except  the  sugar  pats, 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  45 

and  these  led  on  to  Corpus  Christi,  and  to  a  hut  on  the  hill, 
where  the  remainder  of  the  sugar  and  other  booty  was 
found.  The  sugar  sack  was  found  with  a  small  hole  in  it. 
Needless  to  say,  this  gang  was  rounded  up  and  Judge  Lynch 
held  a  long  session. 

An  old  man  living  west  of  town  made  a  poor  living  by 
drawing  and  selling  water  to  passing  teamsters.  One  night 
his  neighbors  on  the  Oso  saw  his  house  in  flames.  They 
hurriedly  mounted  and  rode  to  his  help.  On  getting  in  sight 
they  saw  a  party  of  horsemen  riding  off.  Next  day  the 
charred  remains  of  the  old  man  were  found  in  his  house, 
bound  with  trace  chains,  showing  undoubtedly  that  he  had 
been  burned  alive.  This  man's  name  was  Murdock. 

On  the  morning  of  Good  Friday,  1875,  a  wild,  inco- 
herent messenger  arrived  in  Corpus  Christi.  The  Indians 
were  right  at  his  heels,  he  said,  and  had  murdered  every  soul 
between  here  and  the  Nueces  River  and  had  burned  every 
ranch.  There  was  a  wild  scurry  on  every  hand.  The  Indian 
raid  was  a  certainty.  The  band  was  discovered  some  twenty 
miles  from  the  city,  all  mounted.  They  took  charge  of 
everyone  they  met,  taking  their  horses  and  compelling  pris- 
oners to  march  on  foot.  Coming  to  Nuecestown,  then  called 
the  Motts,  they  attacked  the  only  store,  conducted  by  Mr. 
Noakes.  The  owner  barricaded  the  door  and  fought  them 
off  until  they  set  the  place  on  fire.  Then  he  and  his  family 
escaped  by  a  secret  passage  made  for  just  such  an  emer- 
gency. The  store  was  burned  to  the  ground,  though  the 
robbers  secured  some  loot.  This  was  proven  later.  Coming 
on  toward  town,  they  arrived  at  Juan  Saens  (pronounced 
Whan  Size)  Ranch,  five  miles  west  of  the  city.  Here  the 
Mexican  family  of  that  name  met  them.  One  of  the  boys 
of  the  ranch  spoke  to  the  robbers,  and  quick  as  a  flash  he 
was  shot,  falling  dead  in  his  tracks.  It  is  supposed  that  the 
boy  recognized  the  robber.  Here  the  bandits  held  a  con- 
sultation, they  learned  that  a  messenger  had  reached  the 
city,  so  they  turned  back,  still  marching  their  prisoners  in 
the  middle  of  the  road.  Among  them  was  Miss  Allen,  who 
with  an  old  gentleman,  Judge  Gilpin,  was  driving  in  to  at- 
tend Easter  service  in  the  Episcopal  Church;  Mrs.  E.  D. 
Sidbury,  her  daughter-in-law,  Mrs.  James  Scott,  with  driver 


46  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

and  maid,  and  many  others  whose  names  I  do  not  recall. 
After  going  some  distance  the  robbers  rode  off  and  left  the 
prisoners,  after  taking  everything  of  value  which  they  had, 
including  their  shoes.  The  ladies  hid  in  a  corn  field,  afraid 
for  a  long  time  to  answer  the  calls  of  a  rescuing  party, 
thinking  the  bandits  had  returned.  On  Skidmore's  Ranch 
the  women,  one  with  an  infant  six  months  old,  now  Mrs. 
Bibolette  of  Palestine,  hid  in  an  arroyo.  When  their  men 
came  to  hunt  them  with  shouts  and  shots,  they  trembled  and 
kept  still.  One  of  the  men  had  a  bright  idea,  and  they  began 
singing  hymns.  One  of  the  ladies  told  me  that  she  had  heard 
fine  singing,  but  never  anything  to  compare  with  the  grand 
old  "Nearer  My  God  to  Thee,"  as  it  came  floating  over  the 
prairie  in  the  gloaming.  The  cowboys  were  rewarded  by 
calls,  and  the  poor  women  ended  a  bitter  experience. 

In  the  meantime,  what  was  happening  in  Corpus 
Christi?  There  was  a  military  company  here,  the  Star 
Rifles.  It  was  said  of  them  that  they  led  the  way  to  Central 
Wharf  and  aboard  the  Morgan  Line  Steamer,  Josephine, 
which  happened  to  be  in  that  day,  ready  to  defend  women 
and  children.  The  schooner  Leona,  belonging  to  N.  Gussett, 
was  also  in,  and  various  small  boats.  The  whole  population 
went  to  the  boats  ready  to  go  at  a  moment's  notice.  A  com- 
pany of  brave  men  mounted  their  steeds  and  away  to  meet 
the  marauders.  They  found  that  they  had  retreated  and 
followed.  They  came  upon  them  and  received  their  fire. 
One  man  named  Swank  was  shot  dead  from  his  horse. 
Fearing  an  ambush  the  party  halted  and  the  enemy  re- 
treated unmolested.  Mr.  Swank  was  a  young  man,  a  car- 
penter, who  had  lived  several  years  in  Corpus  Christi.  His 
comrades  brought  his  body  back  to  the  old  cemetery,  and 
a  few  years  since  a  friend  of  his  youth,  Mrs.  Helen  Dority, 
had  a  neat  tablet  placed  over  his  last  resting  place.  Only 
this  friend  remembered  the  man  who  died  in  defense  of  the 
town  in  which  he  had  neither  kith  nor  kin.  Later  the  trail 
was  taken  up  again  by  a  reinforced  party,  and  strange  to 
say,  the  trail  led  to  nearby  ranches.  One  young  Mexican 
had  a  gunshot  wound  in  his  arm,  wrapped  in  a  towel,  recog- 
nized as  one  taken  from  a  looted  store  at  the  Motts.  Truth 
compels  me  to  say  that  Judge  Lynch  again  held  court,  and 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  47 

I  am  afraid  that  he  this  time  worked  on  the  theory  that  it  is 
better  that  ninety  and  nine  innocent  ones  suffer  than  one 
guilty  man  escape.  They  no  doubt  intended  to  loot  Corpus 
Christi,  but  their  hearts  failed  as  they  got  near.  They  kept 
the  prisoners  to  keep  them  from  spreading  the  news.  They 
learned  at  Juan  Saens  that  a  messenger  had  brought  the 
news  in,  as  he  passed  that  point  on  a  dead  run,  had  discov- 
ered the  raid  near  Motts,  and  they  were  afraid  to  risk  a 
battle.  This  was  the  last  raid  in  our  vicinity,  the  raiders 
being  discovered  as  our  own  Mexicans  and  not  Indians  from 
up  the  Rio  Grande,  as  was  first  supposed. 


48  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


CHAPTER  XI. 

The  Author  Reaches  Corpus  Christi. 

The  writer  first  saw  Corpus  Christi  in  May,  1876.  In 
those  days  Corpus  Christi  was  reached  by  a  weekly  steamer 
from  New  Orleans,  a  mailboat  from  Indianola  or  a  stage 
from  San  Antonio.  We  came  via  Indianola,  and  missing 
the  mailboat  at  that  place,  remained  over  one  night.  This 
was  the  year  after  the  first  great  storm,  and  some  feeble 
attempt  had  been  made  to  straighten  up  the  half  destroyed 
houses.  Naturally,  the  people  who  had  spent  their  lives 
there  tried  to  look  at  the  bright  side,  saying  this  was  the 
first  and  likely  the  last  storm.  Fortunately  the  city  did  not 
recuperate,  fortunate  because  they  were  again  and  again 
visited  by  destructive  storms,  and  just  eleven  years  later  the 
town  was  entirely  obliterated,  the  flames  aiding  the  wind 
and  water  in  the  fearful  and  fatal  dance  of  death,  and  today 
the  cry  of  the  seabird  and  the  lap  of  the  tide  are  the  only 
sounds  to  break  the  silence.  A  few  scattered  concrete  cis- 
terns, heaps  of  brick  marking  the  site  of  chimneys,  is  all 
that  remains  of  a  once  prosperous  town,  where  lovers  wooed, 
children  played,  and  a  bright  future  promised,  a  fine  harbor, 
a  new  railroad  and  a  rich  country  nearby. 

An  old  town  too  it  was,  as  towns  rank  in  Texas,  and 
many  of  the  early  settlers  of  interior  towns  bade  farewell 
to  the  great  waters  there.  To  get  near  to  this  harbor  the 
town  was  founded  on  sand,  a  very  low  point  of  land  running 
out  from  the  hills,  seven  miles  distant,  to  meet  the  waters, 
and  between  the  hills  and  the  beach  was  a  low  marsh,  always 
overflowed  at  high  tide,  a  veritable  death  trap,  as  are  too 
many  of  our  coast  towns  today.  But  we  will  not  mention 
names  for  fear  of  giving  offense.  People  who  found  their 
houses  on  sand  do  not  like  to  hear  the  subject  discussed, 
more  certainly  if  they  are  in  the  real  estate  business. 

We  boarded  a  small  boat,  "Star  of  the  South,"  with 
Captain  Sewell,  and  leaving  Indianola  in  the  morning  ar- 
rived next  morning  in  Corpus  Christi.  Sailing  across  the 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  49 

bay  and  watching  our  '  future  home  across  the  sparkling 
water,  I  thought  of  a  vision  of  Heaven.  The  beautiful  wood- 
covered  bluff  with  its  two  church  spires,  Congregational 
(colored)  and  Presbyterian  (old),  were  the  first  visible  ob- 
jects. No  smokestacks  in  those  days,  no  steam  whistles !  A 
perfect  picture  in  a  perfect  setting  was  the  Corpus  Christi 
of  May,  1876.  Near  the  beach  I  noticed  a  little  garden. 
Everything  looked  so  bright  and  green.  The  corn  was  in 
roasting  ear,  while  in  Central  Texas  from  where  we  had 
come  it  was  just  peeping  above  the  ground.  We  bade  good- 
bye to  Captain  Sewell,  who  had  lived  all  his  life  on  the 
water,  and  who  was  destined  later  to  find  a  grave  'neath  the 
waters  of  the  Gulf.  He,  with  his  boat,  was  lost  while  coast- 
ing up  from  Point  Isabel  to  Rockport,  and  his  body  was 
never  found,  nor  any  trace  of  his  boat,  one  of  the  long  list 
of  lost  at  sea. 

Walking  up  Chaparral  Street  I  saw  that  thoroughfare 
literally  filled  with  ox  carts  and  wagons.  Some  of  the  ve- 
hicles had  as  many  as  six  yokes  of  oxen,  and  the  patient 
animals  were  lying  down  in  a  seeming  tangle,  reaching  from 
curb  to  curb,  chewing  the  cud  and  waiting  the  crack  of  the 
whip,  the  signal  to  begin  the  long,  hot  journey  across  the 
prairies  to  and  beyond  the  Mexican  border,  carrying  in 
their  wake  a  whiff  of  civilization.  Clothes,  shoes,  hats,  cook 
stoves,  sewing  machines,  oil.  lamps,  clocks,  any  and  every- 
thing, bought  with  proceeds  of  sales  of  hides,  tallow,  dried 
meat,  wool,  etc.  It  seemed  to  me  that  everybody  spoke  Span- 
ish, and  that  the  only  swift  thing  in  evidence  was  their 
tongues.  To  every  new-comer  the  language  seemed  to  be 
a  perfect  rapid  fire  jangle  of  words,  but  right  here  I  got 
my  first  lesson  in  Spanish  Aztec.  The  only  word  I  could 
distinguish  seemed  like  "star  wano."  Everybody  seemed  to 
be  saying  it.  After  thirty  years  I  think  it  is  the  proper  word 
and  should  be  our  motto,  typical  of  our  people.  Through 
sunshine  and  shadow,  days  of  prosperity,  days  of  depres- 
sion, the  cheery  word  was  ever  in  evidence,  and  over  our 
portals  in  letters  of  gold  should  be  written  Esta  Bueno. 
The  words  fit  our  city,  our  country,  and  if  not  our  people 
it  is  because  the  motto  is  hardly  strong  enough.  We  would 


50  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

have  to  cull  all  the  languages,  getting  the  best  from  each, 
and  then  fall  short  of  fully  expressing  our  respect  for  our 
old  citizens.  Though  we  may  differ  in  politics,  religion  and 
various  items  of  public  import,  we  are  closely  allied  on  all 
matters  of  civic  and  personal  interest. 

The  Corpus  Christi  of  that  day  and  time  was  a  town 
of  considerable  wealth,  many  stockmen  making  their  homes 
here.  Our  little  weekly  paper,  The  Free  Press,  carried  two 
of  its  four  pages  covered  with  hieroglyphics,  illustrating 
cattle  brands  and  notices  to  the  general  public  that  they 
would  feel  the  strong  arm  of  the  law  if  cattle  bearing  these 
brands  were  killed.  To  those  notices  there  was  one  notable 
exception.  At  the  foot  of  one  column  of  marks  and  brands 
stood  the  usual  notice,  but  it  read  different.  It  was  an  in- 
vitation to  any  poor  person,  anyone  in  need,  to  kill  and  use 
for  food  any  calf  in  above  brand,  the  only  proviso  being  that 
they  save  the  hide  and  use  the  meat.  Think  of  it  in  our 
day  and  time,  when  meat  in  our  local  markets  is  a  little 
higher  priced  than  in  the  Northern  cities.  The  name  signed 
to  this  invitation  was  one  of  which  Texas  may  well  be 
proud,  John  Timon  of  San  Patricio,  a  pioneer  who  helped 
make  this  country ;  a  man  whose  charity  was  as  broad  as  the 
prairie  over  which  he  hunted  his  herds,  and  as  beautiful  as 
the  flowers  which  blossomed  thereon.  He  obeyed  the  Scrip- 
tural injunction  and  got  his  guests  from  the  highways.  His 
friends  had  cattle  and  to  spare.  The  poor,  improvident 
Mexican  was  the  recipient  of  this  grand  largess. 

The  sheep  industry  was  at  its  apex  at  this  time  and  a 
great  many  rancheros  were  in  that  business.  Strange  to 
say  there  was  no  friction  between  the  sheep  and  cowman 
such  as  have  disgraced  other  sections  of  the  Southwest,  but 
the  removal  of  the  tariff  off  raw  wool  killed  the  sheep  busi- 
ness and  we  went  back  to  longhorns,  grazing  in  common  on 
the  unfenced  land.  Naturally  the  herds  got  tangled  and 
our  District  Court  ran  overtime  settling  ownership  of  cat- 
tle, a  golden  era  for  the  lawyers  of  that  day.  But  about 
this  time  Glidden  invented  barbed  wire  fencing.  The  coun- 
try was  soon  covered  with  a  network  of  it,  and  for  years 
there  has  not  been  a  case  in  court  growing  out  of  ownership 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  51 

of  cattle,  and  the  animal  known  as  the  Maverick  is  as  com- 
pletely extinct  as  the  buffalo. 

The  longhorn  was  superseded  by  blooded  stock,  the 
festive  cowboy  has  doffed  his  jingling  spurs  and  high-heeled 
boots,  and  .his  trusty  six-shooter  is  covered  with  rust.  The 
old  days,  the  old  boys,  and  general  picturesque  setting  has 
gone,  and  the  places  that  knew  him,  will  know  him  no  more. 


52  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


CHAPTER  XII. 

The  Man  With  the  Hoe. 

The  man  with  the  hoe  next  began  to  arrive  and  made 
a  feeble  attempt  at  farming,  but  the  drought  discouraged 
him.  Next  a  couple  of  German  farmers  arrived,  rented  a 
piece  of  ground  near  town,  and  hauled  water  with  which  to 
set  cabbage  plants.  No  rain  fell  and  no  water  ever  touched 
the  field  except  the  one  time,  and  this  cabbage  patch  was  the 
talk  of  not  only  the  town  but  this  section,  and  we  learned 
that  the  finest  of  cabbage  would  thrive.  That  cabbage  nur- 
tured on  the  near  coast  dews  was  of  superior  quality.  Then 
we  all  planted  cabbage  and  became  the  largest  cabbage  mart 
in  the  world.  Solid  train  loads  of  this  vegetable  went  to 
hunt  the  corned  beef  of  the  East  and  North.  The  farmer 
jingled  coin  in  his  pocket.  Then  the  winter  of  1900  ar- 
rived, and  with  it  the  I3th  of  February,  the  coldest  day 
ever  recorded  in  Texas.  Thousand  of  birds  flying  over 
Nueces  Bay,  north  of  town,  were  frozen,  and  falling  into 
the  bay,  wrere  swept  to  the  southern  shore  by  the  fierce 
Norther  raging,  where  they  lay  in  a  long  windrow,  in  some 
places  several  feet  deep.  From  the  tiny  robin  to  the  great 
crane,  all  kinds  were  there.  Fish  were  torpid  and  came  to 
shore  in  schools,  but  this  cold  was  unprecedented,  and  man 
as  well  as  fish  and  fowl  felt  the  Arctic  weather  and  kept 
close  to  the  fireside.  On  the  morning  of  the  I4th,  the  grow- 
ing cabbage  looked  as  if  it  had  been  permaturely  boiled.  A 
view  of  the  landscape  looked  like  ruin  to  the  planter.  In 
desperation  he  sought  a  later  crop. 

The  only  thing  possible  so  late  in  the  season  was  cotton. 
This  was  an  experiment.  Cotton  was  planted  in  between 
cabbage  rows.  The  cabbage  revived,  made  a  fine  crop, 
which  brought  a  big  price.  Later  the  fields  were  white 
with  the  snowy  staple,  and  the  farmer  jingled  money  in  both 
pockets.  Since  that  time  we  have  learned  that  we  can 
grow  almost  anything,  and  are  certain  that  we  are  on  the 
eve  of  great  agricultural  prosperity,  and  in  a  few  years 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  53 


will  be  shipping  solid  trains  of  citrus  fruits  to  the  Eastern 
markets.  Where  gins  are  now  established,  ginning  at  times 
the  bale-to-the-acre  cotton,  a  few  years  ago  no  man  would 
have  thought  of  putting  a  dollar  in  a  gin  in  this  cottonless 
country.  • 

The  Aransas  Pass  Railroad  was  the  second  to  reach 
our  town  and  put  us  in  touch  with  the  United  States,  as  the 
Texas-Mexican  had  placed  us  in  close  communion  with  our 
sister  Republic.  When  our  railroad  was  first  built  into 
Mexico  we  had  several  large  excursions  in  from  there.  As 
our  hotel  room  was  limited,  the  citizens  received  the  excur- 
sionists in  our  homes,  got  up  boat  races,  ball  games,  and 
gave  at  least  two  grand  balls,  all  free,  in  their  honor.  But, 
but,  BUT,  while  they  were  a  good  people,  polite  in  the  ex- 
treme, they  were  not  our  style,  no  more  than  were  we  theirs, 
so  we  give  them  welcome  and  let  them  hunt  their  own  domi- 
ciles henceforth,  which  seemed  to  give  satisfaction  to  all 
parties  concerned. 

At  an  early  day  we  equipped  a  ball  team,  but  having  no 
one  to  play  but  Rockport  the  sport  languished.  As  soon  as 
the  railroad  put  us  in  touch  with  San  Diego  and  Alice  we 
revived,  and  had  some  famous  games  on  the  diamond  at  the 
intersection  of  Chaparral  and  Fitzgerald  Streets.  The 
writer,  along  with  the  balance  of  the  population,  attended 
regularly.  WTe  remember  one  game  between  the  Uniques 
of  San  Diego  and  our  team  which  went  merrily  on  the 
whole  afternoon.  Each  side  rolled  up  a  score  of  twenty- 
four,  and  the  game  was  declared  a  draw.  Proudly  the  two 
teams  marched  into  town,  side  by  side.  Nobody's  feelings 
were  hurt  that  day.  Again  we  were  playing,  Corpus  Christi 
at  the  bat,  one  man  down,  one  on  first  and  one  at  bat.  The 
batter  hit  and  ran  for  first,  man  on  first  ran  for  second, 
changed  his  mind  and  legged  it  back  in  time  to  meet  batter 
at  first.  Both  claimed  base  and  proceeded  to  settle  this 
dispute  according  to  Marquis  of  Tipperary  rules,  much  to 
the  delight  of  the  crowd.  During  the  rather  heated  dis- 
cussion both  were  touched  out,  retiring  the  side.  Later  we 
organized  two  teams,  the  Bluff  City's  and  Corpus  Christi 
Browns.  What  battles  were  fought  on  that  diamond,  and 
what  feeling  expressed  by  the  partisans.  The  Bluffs  reg'u- 


54  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

larly  held  the  victory.  They  had  a  famous  pitcher,  and  no 
inducement  could  win  him  away  from  his  team.  Poor  Frank 
Larkin,  soon  to  go  down  to  death  under  his  engine  in 
Mexico,  one  of  nature's  noblemen  and  one  of  the  first  and 
best  ball  players  in  Southwest  Texas. 

Of  the  old  Browns  I  remember  a  few  names :  Johnny 
Mitchell,  Lee  and  Henry  Berry,  Hiram  and  Alvin  Ellis, 
Frank  Trabue,  Hugh  Sutherland,  Charley  Williams,  Jim 
Hill,  Ralph  Barnes,  Walter  Timon,  and  others.  Of  the 
victorious  Bluffs,  Frank  Larkin,  Edwin  and  Walter  Dove, 
E.  J.  Shaw,  B.  Legge,  F.  Wissinger,  and  others.  The  old 
boys  are  scattered  now.  Some  have  crossed  the  Divide,  and 
the  few  left  in  the  old  town  are  sedate  gentlemen.  There 
are  silver  threads  among  their  locks,  and  they  play  their 
games  over  again  from  the  grandstand,  while  watching  a 
hired  team  cavort  over  the  field. 

And  now,  about  1891,  we  were  to  have  an  awakening, 
and  old  fashions  and  times  go  out  together.  One  bright  day 
Colonel  Ropes  reached  town  and  started  an  up-to-date  boom. 
His  ideas  were  all  right,  but  he  came  on  about  twenty  years 
too  soon,  and  did  not  fully  understand  his  subject.  He 
bought  land  and  laid  off  a  city  in  the  southern  suburbs,  built 
a  dredge  to  cut  a  canal  across  Mustang  Island  to  deep  water: 
This  dredge  started  in  all  right,  cut  a  channel  about  fifteen 
feet  wide  and  ten  feet  deep  for  about  a  hundred  yards  into 
soft  sand,  of  which  the  island  is  composed,  broke  down,  and 
the  sand  drifted  into  the  channel  behind,  shutting  her  in. 
Her  bones  lie  there  yet.  He  also  built  the  magnificent  Alta 
Vista  Hotel,  but  was  not  able  to  finish  it.  He  laid  off  a 
city  around  the  hotel,  graded  the  streets,  built  a  beautiful 
home  for  himself,  which  he  never  occupied,  and  built  other 
homes  for  sale,  graded  miles  of  streets,  and  a  road  from  the 
city  to  his  hotel,  and  started  and  graded  miles  of  a  new  pro- 
posed railroad  to  Brownsville. 

Any  one  of  his  schemes  would  have  paid  if  undertaken 
singly,  but  he  spent  oceans  of  money  and  did  not  finish 
any  one  thing.  The  old  settlers  watched  the  progress  of 
events,  and  marveled.  Some  few  went  in  on  the  boom  and 
got  stung.  A  money  panic  came  on,  and  everything  stopped. 
Laborers  and  contractors  failed  to  get  their  wages,  and 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST:  55 

people  who  had  rushed  in  began  to  move  on  to  the  next 
boom  town.  It  was  sad  to  drive  out  to  the  hotel  and  see  the 
beautiful  building  vacant  except  a  caretaker.  The  new  resi- 
dences were  never  occupied.  Later  they  were  gradually  de- 
serted as  they  were  too  far  from  town  for  homes  for  people 
living  in  the  city. 

The  Methodists  of  this  section  built  a  large  tabernacle 
a  mile  south  of  the  hotel,  a  college  and  other  buildings.  They 
were  later  removed,  and  later  the  same  church  came  into  the 
possession  of  a  far  better  locality  for  their  encampment 
grounds.  Colonel  Ropes  went  back  from  whence  he  came, 
and  our  bubble  was  burst.  Our  town  had  been  invaded  by 
speculators,  horse  racers,  and  a  host  of  drifting  population 
ready  for  a  land  boom  in  Texas,  or  a  land  rush  in  Indian 
Territory.  They  came  in  companies  and  platoons. 

The  place  was  so  overcrowded  that  people  lived  in 
garrets,  sheds,  tents,  any  shelter.  They  traded  in  every- 
thing and  anything,  from  a  terrier  to  a  ranch,  provided  it 
could  be  bought  on  time.  This  class  was  the  first  to  go, 
they  brought  nothing  with  them  and  they  carried  nothing 
away.  But  many  good  people  also  came  and  were  carried 
away  by  the  excitement.  Highly  colored  and  overdrawn 
literature  was  sent  out  and  prospective  buyers  came.  This 
class  invested  in  real  estate,  bought  anything  offered. 

Two  old  gentlemen  fought  with  canes  for  the  privilege 
of  paying  nine  hundred  dollars  for  a  lot  near  the  Alta  Vista 
Hotel.  A  big  lot  sale  was  held  in  the  unfinished  hotel,  and 
lots  were  sold  rapidly.  Two  years  later  lots  in  the  same 
locality  were  offered  for  as  low  as  ten  dollars  per  lot,  with 
no  takers,  and  the  greater  part  of  this  property  was  aban- 
doned to  original  owners,  or  sold  for  taxes. 

And  now  the  better  part  of  the  story  comes.  The 
Brownsville  Railroad  is  built,  the  town  has  grown  south- 
ward in  the  last  few  years,  and  the  schemes  planned  by 
Colonel  Ropes  have  become  realities,  the  lots  have  returned 
to  their  boom  values  and  more,  and  fortunate  the  men  who 
bought  real  estate  and  kept  it.  It  was  a  long  wait  between 
the  collapse  of  the  boom  and  the  healthy  reaction  which 
came  gradually  and  surely,  but  the  investment  paid  big  in 
the  long  run. 


56  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

Many  bought  options  on  land,  and  this  also  paid,  but 
many  of  the  investors  were  poor  people  and  expected,  as  per 
circular,  to  make  enough  on  the  first  crop  to  pay  for  the 
land  and  start  a  bank  account.  They  lost  and  many  of  them 
deserted  their  holdings.  To  add  to  the  distress,  the  Bank 
of  Doddridge  &  Davis  closed  its  doors.  The  news  came  like 
a  thunderclap  and  the  old  town  awoke  with  a  bound.  All 
sorts  of  stories  were  abroad,  and  as  usual  in  such  cases,  the 
ones  losing  least  howled  loudest  and  longest.  This  event 
drove  the  last  nail  in  the  coffin  of  the  boom,  and  things 
looked  blue.  The  depositors  were  eventually  paid  sixty  cents 
on  the  dollar.  All  sympathized  with  Mr.  Doddridge,  a  good, 
honest  man,  self  made,  and  whose  greatest  sin  was  his  trust 
in  his  fellow-man.  He  never  recovered  from  the  shock 
of  the  destruction  of  his  life  work,  dying  a  few  years  after 
the  bank  failure.  The  depositors  took  their  per  cent.,  and— 
"Esta  Bueno,"  let  it  go  at  that.  But  the  blow  fell  heavily 
on  the  new  people  who  made  part  payment  on  homes.  Many 
of  them  were  old  people,  and  they  not  being  able  to  meet 
payments  were  forced  to  go.  As  if  our  troubles  were  not 
sufficient  for  the  day  thereof,  we  had  a  terrible  drought  that 
year.  We  were  at  a  halt  for  a  long  time,  had  overbuilt,  and 
houses  in  many  cases  were  let  to  caretakers,  rent  free.  The 
sound  of  the  saw  and  hammer  were  strange  for  several 
years. 

Our  new  hotel,  the  Miramar,  built  by  a  local  stock  com- 
pany, on  the  beach  where  the  Spohn  Hospital  now  stands, 
burned  to  the  ground,  the  guests  barely  escaping  with  their 
lives.  Our  cup  of  sorrow  was  running  over,  and  for  awhile 
we  lost  heart.  But  things  began  to  pick  up  gradually. 

The  women,  as  ever,  in  time  of  trouble,  were  to  the 
front.  The  Monday  Club  was  organized.  Among  their  first 
work  was  the  founding  of  a  library  for  the  High  School,  re- 
claiming and  beautifying  Artesian  Square,  a  little  park  in 
the  heart  of  the  city.  Under  the  rule  of  woman  it  was 
changed  from  an  unsightly  weed-covered  spot  to  a  thing  of 
beauty. 

In  this  park  is  our  famous  mineral  well.  Some  cures 
made  by  this  water  are  but  little  short  of  miraculous.  I  would 
be  afraid  to  tell  them,  as  I  scarce  credit  it  if  I  had  not 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  57 

known  the  history  of  the  cases,  knew  the  patients  before 
and  after  taking,  so  to  speak.  The  water  has  never  been 
exploited.  It  is  free,  and  only  those  who  test  know  its 
virtues. 

Then  the  Women's  Cemetery  Association  was  formed. 
They  opened  new  cemeteries  and  cared  for  the  old  one. 
Later,  under  the  leadership  of  Mrs..  G.  R.  Scott,  a  committee 
of  ladies  met  at  the  market  hall  and  voted  to  form  a  stock 
company  and  build  a  public  meeting  place.  The  latter  was 
discussed  from  all  points,  one  of  the  women  declaring  that 
there  was  not  enough  ready  money  in  Corpus  Christi  to  erect 
the  hall.  Mrs.  Scott  was  elected  president,  a  committee  of 
four  directors  appointed,  being  Mrs.  Jessie  Griffin,  Mrs. 
Joshua  Smith,  Mrs.  E.  A.  Born  and  Mrs.  Mary  Suther- 
land. Mrs.  Smith  and  Mrs.  Born  later  resigned,  and  Mrs. 
John  Jordt  and  Mrs.  P.  Dunn  were  appointed  in  their  places. 
Mrs.  S.  W.  Rankin  was  secretary  and  Miss  Mildred  Seaton 
was  treasurer,  and  the  Ladies'  Pavilion  (now  Olympic)  was 
the  result.  The  ladies  hold  the  real  honor  of  being  the  first 
stock  company  ever  formed  here  who  paid  their  stock- 
holders in  full,  with  legal  interest  for  every  day  they  used 
it.  This  building  was  a  boon  to  the  town,  as  we  had  out- 
grown the  old  City  Hall.  While  the  women  were  in  charge 
there  were  several  notable  conventions  held  there:  Texas 
Bankers,  Texas  Medical  Association,  Secretary  of  War 
Dickinson  spoke  there  at  the  time  President  Taft  visited  the 
city,  political  meetings  of  both  parties,  Inland  Waterway 
Convention  at  which  the  Governor  of  Texas  spoke,  Texas 
Press  Association,  and  others. 

But  the  most  important  of  all  the  meetings,  also  in  its 
bearing  and  future  prosperity  of  the  city,  was  the  reception 
given  the  Committee  of  Texas  Epworth  League,  who 
were  seeking  a  place  for  their  annual  encampment.  We 
met  the  ladies  and  gentlemen  of  that  committee,  talked 
matters  over,  showed  them  our  bayside,  on  a  beautiful  shell 
beach,  off  which  there  is  to  be  found  the  finest  bathing 
grounds  anywhere.  Each  August  for  eleven  years  the 
City  of  Tents  stood  near  General  Taylor's  old  camp  ground. 

Another  army  was  here,  bent  on  a  far  different  and 
greater  conquest  than  the  American  Army  of  occupation 


58  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

ever  dreamed  of.  Under  their  banner  of  white  and  gold 
they  sought  the  conquest  of  the  earth.  To  this  annual  meet- 
ing came  the  best  and  brightest  soldiers  of  the  Cross,  emi- 
nent divines  and  scholars,  missionaries.  Under  the  leader- 
ship of  Rev.  Frank  Onderdonk  came  yearly  the  missionaries 
from  Mexico,  making  a  fine  showing  of  the  work  done 
there.  China,  Japan,  Korea,  Brazil  were  all  represented, 
and  where  more  than  half  a  century  ago  armed  men 
swarmed  and  the  sentinel  kept  his  post,  were  spread  long 
rows  of  white  tents.  The  sound  of  women's  songs  and 
children's  laughter  displaced  the  bluff  challenge.  Hundreds 
of  electric  lights  wrere  mirrored  in  the  moonlit  waves,  and  the 
sound  of  prayer  and  praise  was  heard  on  the  old  camp 
ground.  During  the  years  there  has  always  been  the  most 
perfect  good  feeling,  a  camp  guard  is  employed,  but  his 
office  is  a  sinecure ;  the  rough  element  of  society  are  as 
scarce  in  its  precincts  as  are  serpents  in  the  land  of  good 
St.  Patrick,  and  though  many  live  in  tents  and  cottages,  and 
as  a  rule  well-to-do  people,  jewelry  and  other  valuables  care- 
lessly left  about  are  perfectly  safe.  No  untoward  event  has 
ever  happened  on  the  grounds.  True,  an  occasional  young- 
ster is  reported  missing,  but  invariably  the  sea  gives  up  its 
very  wet  and  happy  boy  or  girl.  The  silver-haired  grandpa 
and  small  boy  played  together  in  the  clear  waters,  with  odds 
in  grandpa's  favor.  He  can  go  into  deeper  water.  Whole 
schools  of  girls  romp,  boys  shoot  the  chutes,  mamas  gossip 
in  circles,  while  the  whole  water  line  is  covered  with  small 
tvkes  who  may  safely  cavort  on  the  warm  sands. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  59 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

When  Fitzsimmons  Trained. 

In  the  summer  of  1895  Robert  Fitzsimmons  and  his 
family  and  followers  came  to  our  city.  Bob  was  training 
for  his  great  fight  with  Corbett.  He  rented  a  brick  house  in 
the  northern  suburbs,  near  the  bay,  and  every  day  we  would 
see  the  long,  lanky  chap  running  or  walking  our  streets,  occa- 
sionally trying  to  ride  a  bicycle,  but  at  this  he  was  no  adept. 
His  pet  lion  cub  roamed  the  premises  unrestrained,  but  when 
the  news  got  out  that  he  had  disappeared  from  home,  excite- 
ment ran  high,  and  for  three  days  women  kept  their  children 
in  and  doors  barred.  Men  riding  in  or  out  of  town  carried 
a  gun,  while  a  posse  organized  and  enjoyed  the  novelty  of  a 
lion  hunt  in  West  Texas.  On  the  fourth  day  the  cub 
crawled  out  from  under  the  house  where  he  had  been  in 
hiding,  and  the  scare  was  over.  Fitzsimmons  spent  about  a 
month  here,  when  the  news  came  that  Texas  absolutely  re- 
fused to  be  disgraced  by  a  prize  fight  within  her  borders, 
Governor  Culberson  having  called  a  special  session  of  the 
Legislature  for  the  purpose  of  framing  a  law  to  fit  the  case. 
Fitzsimmons  and  his  wife,  his  mother-in-law  and  brother-in- 
law,  his  followers  and  his  cub  departed.  I  must  admit  that 
we  were  glad  he  won  from  Corbett  for  he  had  trained  in 
Corpus  Christi. 

Slowly  at  first,  but  gaining  momentum  as  the  years 
slipped  past,  our  town  forged  ahead.  The  Brownsville  Road 
opened  up  a  rich  country  south  of  us  and  gradually  pros- 
perity came  to  stay.  Houses  became  scarce.  The  summer 
and  winter  visitors  became  more  numerous  every  year.  We 
could  scarcely  find  shelter  for  all.  One  from  the  North,  F. 
E.  Ring,  originated  the  plan  of  building  small,  cheap  cot- 
tages. Ring  Villa  sprang  up  almost  in  a  day.  On  four 
leased  lots  he  built  twelve  cottages.  The  idea  caught  the 
public  fancy  and  soon  there  were  whole  colonies  of  them, 
and  we  could  take  care  of  all  who  came.  Previous  to  this 


60  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

time  people  had  actually  arrived  and  left  on  the  next  train, 
being  unable  to  find  accommodations. 

During  the  Spanish-American  War  we  had  one  com- 
pany of  Texas  troops  stationed  here.  They  camped  on  the 
North  Beach,  and  served  their  whole  enlistment  with  us. 
This  being  the  only  fragment  of  the  war  that  came  our  way, 
we  made  the  most  of  it,  and  the  boys  held  one  long  picnic. 
Only  one  bit  of  bloodshed  in  the  command.  One  soldier 
dangerously  wounded  a  comrade  with  a  bayonet  thrust.  The 
wounded  man  was  sent  to  the  hospital  tent,  and  the  bellig- 
erent jailed.  The  officer  in  command  sent  to  town  for  a 
conveyance  in  which  he  and  the  prisoner  mounted,  officer 
grasping  his  pistol,  while  two  men  walked  on  each  side  with 
guns.  Each  and  everyone  who  met  them  coming  in  joined 
in  the  procession,  so  that  they  had  a  good  crowd.  Drays, 
buggies,  bicycles,  horseback  and  footmen  in  attendance. 
When  they  reached  the  County  Jail  the  prisoner  was  turned 
over  to  the  civil  authorities,  and  a  few  days  later,  when  they 
demanded  him  to  carry  him  to  military  prison,  the  Civil 
Court  refused  to  surrender  him.  The  sequel  was,  the  man 
got  well,  the  war  ended  and  the  prisoner  went  free. 

We  had  a  great  naval  show  on  Nueces  Bay  right  after 
the  Spanish-American  War,  portraying  the  destruction  of 
Cervera's  Fleet.  The  first  night  the  show  was  a  failure.  The 
Mexicans  who  were  to  work  the  boats  in  the  shoal  water, 
seeing  the  soldiers  arrive  with  guns  to  man  the  fleet,  got 
suspicious.  The  story  got  out  that  they  were  to  be  killed  in 
the  water.  The  news  spread,  and  while  trains  from  town 
were  carrying  out  thousands  to  view  the  spectacle,  the 
motive  power  of  the  Santa  Maria  and  other  vessels  of  the 
hostile  fleet  were  legging  it  back  to  safety.  Next  night  crews 
of  white  men  were  secured  and  the  sham  battle  was  grand, 
simply  magnificent ! 

The  hostile  ships  lay  in  Corpus  Christi  Bay  while  the 
Americans  awaited  them  in  Nueces  Bay.  The  Spaniards 
came  singly  as  in  the  real  battle  at  Santiago,  were  attacked 
and  set  on  fire,  the  soldiers  representing  the  marines,  and 
the  red  lights  representing  fire.  Powerful  rockets  from  stove- 
pipe cannon  played  havoc  with  the  running  Spaniard,  a 
magnificent  show  of  fireworks  throughout.  The  town  paid 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST:  61 

a  considerable  sum  to  secure  the  spectacle  and  the  crowds 
were  so  great  that  many  had  to  keep  to  the  trains  and  re- 
turn, being  unable  to  get  accommodations.  One  car  cleaner 
at  the  depot  got  into  trouble  when  the  passengers  of  the 
train  which  got  in  last  began  to  come  back  and  demand  ad- 
mission to  the  cars.  He  refused  to  let  them  in,  locked  the 
doors  and  ran  to  'phone  the  Superintendent.  When  he  got 
back  they  had  climbed  in  at  the  windows,  and  again  he  ran 
to  'phone  for  instructions.  This  time  he  got  back  to  find 
the  passengers  had  retired  for  the  night,  on  chairs,  floor  and 
every  available  spot.  For  several  days  sleeping  quarters 
were  .at  a  premium.  The  town  was  crowded  by  enthusiastic 
Americans,  eager  to  see  the  portrayal  of  our  latest  naval 
battle. 

But  this  war  was  soon  over,  and  our  little  command  of 
Texans  went  home,  and  the  loafer  quit  meeting  the  man 
from  the  Island  who  had  heard  heavy  firing  seaward.  This 
story  got  quite  stale  during  hostilities.  Poor  old  Spain  had 
not  enough  navy  to  guard  her  own  shores,  and  none  to  hunt 
honors  on  the  Gulf. 

The  electric  light  reached  here  about  1890  or  1892,  and 
what  a  boon  they  were !  The  kerosene  lamp  was  good  in 
winter  but  very  poor  in  summer,  owing  to  the  almost  out- 
door life  we  led,  doors  and  windows  wide  open  to  catch  the 
breeze.  Also  the  first  auto  arrived  and  claimed  its  share 
of  notice.  I  think  the  first  car  was  the  property  of  John  G. 
Kennedy,  a  wealthy  ranchman.  The  second  car  to  arrive 
was  brought  on  by  one  of  our  most  popular  physicians,  the 
late  Dr.  A.  G.  Heaney.  This  car  belonged  here,  and  many 
of  our  people  tasted  the  joy  of  automobiling  for  the  first 
time  in  the  car  of  the  kindly  doctor,  particularly  the  school 
children,  who  were  made  happy  for  days  by  a  lift  of  a  few 
blocks  in  the  wonderful  auto.  Today  Corpus  Christi  is  said 
to  have  more  cars  than  any  town  twice  its  size  in  the  State. 


62  THE  STQRY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST: 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

Visit  of  President  Taft. 

Our  next  very  great  event  was  the  visit,  in  October  of 
1909,  of  William  Howard  Taft,  President  of  the  United 
States.  For  months  preparations  to  receive  him  were  in 
order.  The  revenue  cutter  "Windom"  came  over  from  Gal- 
veston  to  hoist  the  President's  flag  and  bring  him  across 
the  bay  from  La  Quinta,  his  brother's  ranch,  twelve  miles 
away,  on  north  shore,  to  our  wharf.  Meetings  were  held 
and  committees  appointed.  In  the  excitement  our  Mayor, 
Dan  Reid,  was  nearly  forgotten.  Finally  committees  were 
fixed.  The  question  of  dress  for  the  reception  committee 
was  broached.  Some  man,  or  it  might  have  been  a  woman, 
suggested  a  silk  hat  and  tan  shoes  as  proper.  And  this  in 
Texas !  But  our  never  failing  common  sense  prevailed,  and 
a  go-as-you-please  party  of  representative  men  met  Presi- 
dent Taft  on  Central  Wharf,  where  the  party  had  to  thread 
their  way  between  cotton  bales.  It  was  a  fair  illustration 
of  how  badly  we  needed  deep  water.  Mayor  Reid  and  two 
City  Commissioners  rode  writh  Mr.  Taft  in  an  automobile, 
followed  by  a  long  line  of  cars,  and  preceded  by  a  platoon 
of  mounted  police. 

Every  eye  was  glued  on  the  first  auto,  and  there  that 
good  natured  face  looked  out  at  us,  from  under  a  new  silk 
hat — no,  an  old  Panama  which  might  have  done  duty  on  the 
farm  as  an  egg  basket.  Later  the  President  told  us  this 
story  of  the  ancient  headgear.  He  said  that  Governor  Camp- 
bell met  him  on  his  entrance  into  the  State,  at  El  Paso,  and 
there  the  two  men  made  a  compact.  While  in  Texas  Mr. 
Taft  was  to  wear  the  battered  Panama  of  the  Governor,  and 
the  Governor  was  to  wear  the  President's  silk  hat.  They 
stuck  to  the  bargain,  but  I  imagine  Mr.  Governor  was  glad 
when  Mr.  President  flitted  over  the  border  of  Texas. 

A  pergola  was  erected  at  the  foot  of  the  bluff  on  Mes- 
quite  Street.  Seats  placed  on  terraces  on  the  face  of  the 
bluff  accommodated  hundreds,  while  on  the  crest  of  the 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  63 

hill  were  ranked  the  children  of  the  public  schools.  A  mili- 
tary band  from  Fort  Sam  Houston  was  with  them,  and  as 
the  President  arrived  they  accompanied  the  children  in  the 
National  anthem,  "America."  The  leader  of  the  band  was 
cross,  the  children  warm  and  excited.  Two  or  three  little 
girls  fainted  and  were  borne  from  the  field,  and  it  was  a 
very  ragged  musical  welcome  accorded  Mr.  Taft.  As  he 
ascended  the  steps  to  the  platform  he  noticed  two  parties 
of  aged  men  on  front  seats.  Learning  that  they  were  vet- 
erans of  the  Blue  and  the  Grey,  he  had  them  invited  to  seats 
on  the  stand  in  the  shade.  Mayor  Reid,  in  a  few  well  chosen 
words,  introduced  Mr.  Taft  to  the  audience,  and  here  for 
the  first  time  many  of  our  people  saw  the  President  of  our 
country.  He  won  his  hearers  from  the  start.  Looked  just 
as  we  expected  this  great  American  to  look,  and  talked  as 
one  of  our  own,  though  he  gently  hinted  that  he  was  not 
President  by  Southern  votes,  but  we  loved  him  for  what  he 
was,  and  a  more  loyal  audience  than  that  Texas  crowd  never 
listened  to  a  speaker  than  this  one,  who  stood  under  the 
burning  sun  on  this  ever-to-be-remembered  day. 

A  company  of  militia  from  Brownsville  aided  the  peace 
officers  in  guarding  the  grounds,  around  which  a  fence  had 
been  placed,  and  everyone  entering  had  to  get  in  at  the  well- 
guarded  gate.  The  writer  noticed,  as  we  suppose  did  every- 
one else,  a  kind  of  nervous  dread  which  seemed  to  pervade 
the  vast  crowd,  a  fear  of  some  untoward  happening,  a  fear 
for  comfort  and  safety  of  our  illustrious  visitor.  A  news- 
paper man  standing  outside  of  the  low  fence  snapped  a 
camera.  The  snap  sounded  like  a  salvo  of  gatlins  to  those 
nearby,  and  inside  a  minute  a  couple  of  bayonets  were  at 
his  breast.  He  smilingly  held  up  his  camera  and  named  his 
paper,  and  we  breathed  free  again.  After  the  President's 
talk  he  entered  a  waiting  auto  and  visited  the  new  Country 
Club  House,  and  golf  grounds,  which  he  formally  opened. 

Returning  he  was  entertained  at  the  home  of  Mrs. 
Henrietta  M.  King.  At  3  o'clock  he  again  boarded  the 
"Windom"  and  sailed  back  across  the  bay  to  the  home  of 
his  brother,  and  the  greatest  day  in  the  history  of  Corpus 
Christi  was  over.  We  had  met  the  President  of  our  great 
Nation,  and  were  not  disappointed  in  our  American,  that  is 


64  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


as  to  our  white  population.  The  colored  citizens  felt  a  little 
disappointed  as  they  were  not  particularly  or  specially 
noticed,  and  they  had  given  him  their  votes  nearly  to  a  man, 
while  our  numerous  Aztec  or  Spanish-American  citizens 
openly  voiced  their  contempt  for  the  whole  show  in  un- 
measured terms  and  good  Mexican  language.  Anyone  who 
has  met  a  Mexican  officer,  or  a  military  band  in  full  regi- 
mentals, will  understand  why.  They  expected  purple  and 
gold,  tinsel  and  plumes,  all  the  trappings  so  dear  to  the  de- 
scendants of  the  Indian  and  Conquistador. 

The  writer  remembers  one  particular  military  band 
visiting  a  neighboring  city,  time  July  21,  thermometer  crowd- 
ing the  nineties.  The  bandmen  wore  heavy,  wool  uniforms, 
with  broad  band  of  gold  lace  down  each  leg  of  pantaloons, 
gold  epaulets  on  each  shoulder,  great  heavy  leather  hats 
with  heavy  red  braid  and  plumes,  and  they  were  only  band- 
men.  How  ceaselessly  they  played,  how  earnestly  they 
played  the  sad  peculiar  music  of  their  own  land,  so  honestly 
and  earnestly  that  it  became  monotonous  to  the  American 
crowd  who  wanted  to  hear  the  decisions  of  the  umpire,  and 
when  a  ball  struck  the  leader  on  the  hat  and  nearly  upset 
him,  he  bent  to  the  blow  but  never  missed  a  note. 

But  our  great  day,  October  22,  1909,  was  over.  We 
were  pleased  and  proud  of  the  honor.  While  Mr.  Taft, 
God  bless  him,  carried  a  broad  smile  and  the  blessing  of  the 
people  away  with  him,  our  city,  so  crowded  and  gay,  was 
soon  to  know  a  great  sorrow.  The  gay  flags  to  hang  at  half 
mast  and  the  trappings  of  mourning  to  replace  the  welcom- 
ing decorations. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  65 


CHAPTER  xv. 

Administration  of  Dan  Reid. 

Only  a  few  days  after  Mr.  Taft's  visit  our  Mayor,  Dan 
Reid,  was  stricken  with  a  fatal  illness,  and  on  December 
15  the  whole  city  sadly  followed  to  its  last  resting  place  in 
the  old  cemetery,  the  body  of  one  of  our  most  able  sons. 
Mr.  Reid,  Dan  as  his  friends  called  him,  was  ever  a  public- 
spirited  citizen.  In  1892  Corpus  Christi  installed  a  water- 
works system.  Mr.  Reid  purchased  largely  of  the  bonds, 
and  was  for  years  president  of  the  waterworks  company, 
the  city  purchasing  the  bonds  just  previous  to  his  death.  It 
is  a  paying  business  now,  but  in  its  infancy  it  required  a 
wrorld  of  coddling  and  good  money  to  keep  it  going,  and 
literally  Mr.  Reid  nursed  it  to  maturity,  and  turned  the  stock 
over  to  the  city  at  65  cents  on  the  dollar.  He,  with  a  few 
other  public-spirited  citizens,  kept  the  company  alive,  and 
the  water  flowing,  through  months  of  the  greatest  business 
depressions  and  through  years,  when  if  the  ledger  balanced, 
it  did  no  more,  turning  it  over  the  city,  which  would  not 
risk  the  price  of  installing  it,  in  splendid  condition. 

Dan  Reid  was  three  times  defeated  for  Mayor  of  the 
city.  In  his  fourth  canvass  he  was  elected.  Not  being  satis- 
fied with  the  Aldermanic  form  of  government,  he  volun- 
tarily resigned  the  office  for  which  he  had  stood  so  often, 
and  with  other  prominent  citizens  applied  for  a  charter 
under  commission  form  of  government.  This  was  granted, 
a  new  election  held,  and  he  was  again  elected,  serving  only 
a  part  of  his  term  when  the  Grim  Reaper  came.  But  in  this 
short  time,  order  came  out  of  chaos.  The  city  was  placed 
on  a  cash  basis.  City  scrip,  which  had  been  as  low  as  25 
cents  on  the  dollar,  was  worth  its  face  value.  Better  sani- 
tary laws  were  made  and  enforced,  employees  paid  promptly 
and  required  to  earn  their  salary,  while  the  Mayor's  salary 
of  one  hundred  dollars  per  month  remained  in  the  bank, 
to  be  expended  as  the  citizens  wished,  for  the  benefit  of  the 


66  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST: 

city,  either  in  the  extension  of  the  water  mains  or  street 
improvement. 

An  election  was  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  Daily 
Caller,  in  which  every  citizen  over  eighteen  years  of  age, 
including  women,  were  allowed  to  vote.  Good  roads  car- 
ried, but  before  the  work  could  be  mapped  out  the  generous 
donor  was  gone,  and  even  his  most  bitter  political  enemy, 
he  had  no  other,  felt  that  our  town  had  suffered  an  almost 
irreparable  loss. 

Mr.  Reid  came  to  Corpus  Christi  with  the  family  of  his 
widowed  mother  in  1854.  He  was  but  two  years  of  age  at 
the  time,  and  remembered  nothing  of  the  trip  from  far-off 
Glasgow,  Scotland.  He  received  a  fair  education  in  our  day 
schools,  learned  the  builders'  trade  under  the  guidance  of 
the  late  E.  D.  Sidbury,  which  he  quit  and  went  into  the  sheep 
business  for  a  few  years.  Returning  to  Corpus  Christi  he 
formed  a  partnership  with  H.  R.  Sutherland,  and  this  firm 
of  Reid  &  Sutherland,  Architects  and  Builders,  was  well 
known  for  nearly  twenty  years,  from  the  coast  to  the  border. 

And  now,  in  the  days  of  1915,  our  old  town  is  forging 
upward.  On  the  evening  air  is  borne  the- noise  of  a  city, 
where  a  few  years  since  the  calm  of  a  Sabbath  stillness  was 
over  all,  the  lowing  of  kine  or  the  shrill  whistle  of  the  small 
boy  the  only  sound  to  break  the  silence,  where  now  late  into 
the  night,  encroaching  on  the  new  day,  the  sound  of  the 
clang  of  the  car,  puff  of  an  auto,  or  chug  of  a  motor  boat 
rend  the  air,  while  the  laugh  and  shout  of  the  merry  bathing 
crowds  are  abroad  in  the  night,  for  the  bathing  is  good  the 
year  'round,  only  taking  a  recess  when  a  Norther  arrives. 
The  calm  of  the  old  days  of  the  Indian  and  the  Spanish 
cavalier  has  departed  forever. 

The  first  ball  we  have  notice  of  was  given  by  officers 
under  General  Taylor.  Undoubtedly  some  of  the  officers' 
wives  must  have  come  out,  and  still  we  expect  ladies  were 
scarce.  We  remember  seeing  an  article  some  years  ago  in 
one  of  our  papers  on  old  times,  and  it  described  an  invi- 
tation sent  to  Mrs.  Belden,  then  a  young  matron,  to  attend 
this  ball.  We  suppose  other  ladies  must  have  arrived,  as 
Mrs.  and  Miss  Moore  and  Mrs.  Belden  are  mentioned  as  the 
only  ladies  here  at  the  time  of  landing.  The  next  on  list  is 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  67 

the  ball  by  enlisted  men,  at  which  our  Irish  Sergeant  played 
beau  to  Lucindy.  Another  invitation  of  which  we  saw  a  copy 
was  dated  in  the  5o's.  After  mentioning  time  and  place 
the  committee  assured  the  ladies  that  perfect  order  would 
be  kept  as  an  officer  would  be  present  to  suppress  any  undue 
hilarity. 

Later  many  dances  were  given,  and  though  most  every- 
one carried  pistols,  there  is  no  record  or  tradition  of  any 
unpleasantness.  The  inborn  respect  for  women,  of  which 
all  Americans  have  a  large  share,  made  this  not  only  possible 
but  sure.  Many  little  dancing  parties  were  given  at  private 
residences  by  the  young  people  both  in  town  and  country,  at 
which  the  old  quadrille  or  cotillion  and  Virginia  reel  lasted 
from  dark  till  day.  The  slow  two-step  or  languorous  waltz 
of  the  present  was  unknown,  and  dear  to  the  memories  of 
the  old-timers  was  the  sound  of  the  violin  and  the  whoop 
of  the  prompter.  But  times  change.  During  the  stay  of  the 
battalion  here  during  the  Spanish  War,  some  of  the  boys 
arranged  a  little  private  dance,  at  which  quadrilles  were 
danced.  Suddenly  on  the  night  air  arose  sounds  of  apparent 
strife.  For  blocks  around,  from  dwellings  poured  men  and 
women.  The  men,  true  to  Corpus  Christi  spirit,  ready  to 
carry  first  aid,  followed  the  sound  to  find  that  the  noise 
emanated  from  a  vociferous  prompter  who  was  onto  his 
job.  Revival  of  the  old  dances  was  a  novelty  at  this  date. 

The  most  noted  balls,  however,  were  those  given  yearly 
to  and  by  the  Fire  Department.  For  thirty-seven  years  this 
was  the  local  social  event  of  the  season.  In  old  days  there 
was  a  parade  by  day  and  a  ball  at  night.  At  first  we  had 
only  a  hook  and  ladder  truck  and  a  fire  engine.  These  the 
ladies  decorated  with  evergreen  and  oleanders  for  the  pa- 
rade. Later  we  got  hose  carts  for  the  different  wards,  and 
then  came  the  tug-of-war,  each  ward  trying  to  win  the  prize, 
and  the  decorations  could  not  have  been  surpassed  in  any 
city.  Each  and  every  flower  of  decorations  was  hand  made, 
and  every  petal  of  the  thousands  of  flowers  was  carefully 
examined  before  using  in  the  work.  Every  woman  in  the 
ward  was  a  willing  helper,  and  days  and  long  evenings  were 
given  over  to  the  work,  and  the  finished  work  was  grand. 
At  night  old  Market  Hall  was  buried,  as  to  walls,  under  a 


68  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

cloud  of  green  flowers,  and  to  this  ball  came  the  firemen  and 
their  guests,  little  and  big,  rich  and  poor.  Old  and  young 
met  once  a  year  at  the  Firemen's  Ball.  And  what  hosts 
those  old  boys  were,  every  man  of  them  a  committee  of  one, 
to  see  that  everybody  enjoyed  the  occasion,  that  there  were 
no  wall  flowers,  that  the  ladies  had  the  first  and  best  seats 
at  the  table,  and  what  a  table. 

The  ladies  of  the  different  wards,  under  a  chairman, 
arranged  this,  soliciting  the  supper  and  donating  it.  This 
supper  became  famous  both  as  to  quantity  and  quality,  be- 
cause cooked  at  home  and  sent  in.  Turkey  or  ham  from  one, 
cake  from  another,  and  down  the  list.  Quantity  as  every- 
body wanted  to  give.  A  whole  pig  with  a  ruffled  collar, 
and  an  apple  in  its  mouth.  A  log  cabin  cake,  enough  for 
twenty  hungry  boys.  Two  beautiful  white  deer,  in  butter, 
feeding  on  a  green  parsley  lawn.  A  gift  from  the  Convent, 
an  old  English  church,  of  cake,  with  steeple.  But  the  great- 
est artistic  display  was  in  the  salads.  Whole  bouquets  of 
eatables,  such  spreads  as  have  gone  out  of  date  forever. 
During  the  past  few  years  the  growth  of  Corpus  Christi 
has  been  so  great  that  the  Volunteer  Department,  in  a  large 
measure,  has  been  supplanted  by  a  paid  department,  splen- 
didly equipped.  And  with  the  passing  of  the  volunteers 
passed  the  social  features. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  69 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

.    Some  Early  Entertainments. 

Then  one  day  in  the  8o's  the  lightning  rod  man  arrived 
with  his  great  team  of  gray  horses  and  long  wagon  loaded 
with  rods.  He  proceeded  to  give  open  air  concerts,  fine 
music  and  singing  by  a  really  good  quartette  of  more  than 
ordinary  ability,  and  between  acts,  a  good  talker,  told  us  of 
our  daily  danger  from  the  clouds.  We  turned  out  nightly  to 
enjoy  the  show,  and  the  thrills  we  felt  when  our  danger  was 
pointed  out.  Nobody  had  ever  been  killed  by  lightning  in 
our  town,  and  we  arranged  that  no  one  should.  We  got 
rods,  some  of  the  most  timorous  even  putting  five  or  six 
rods  on  a  small  roof.  This  company  made  several  visits  to 
us  and  we  enjoyed  every  one  of  them. 

Next  came  the  medicine  shows.  They  also  gave  nightly 
concerts,  which  might  have  been  enjoyed  had  they  also  not 
brought  news  of  so  many  new  ailments.  The  Wizard  Oil 
Company  was  the  first  to  arrive,  and  their  oil  is  still  a 
favorite  cure-all  with  many  of  us.  The  Diamond  King  also 
held -the  public  for  a  time,  and  a  long  list  of  companies  and 
cures  followed,  even  to  the  present  day,  but  the  charlatan 
of  this  day  has  no  such  audiences  as  his  predecessors.  The 
earliest  companies  were  a  break  in  the  monotony  of  the 
times.  Now  amusement  is  more  plentiful  and  we  are  more 
fastidiotis  in  our  tastes,  though  we  are  an  amusement  loving 
people  and  our  city  classed  as  a  good  show  town. 

A  most  interesting  public  event  of  this  kind  to  which 
we  went  to  a  man,  also  woman,  was  our  first  Street  Carnival, 
the  best. of  its  kind.  The  tents  were  placed  in  the  streets, 
which  was  a  novelty  in  itself.  Here  we  saw  the  Flying 
Woman  and  the  first  moving  pictures,  which  were  new  at 
•the  time.  And  the  shooting  galleries,  where  great  fat  tur- 
keys might  be  and  often  were  won,  our  first  hamburgers, 
hot  waffles,  and  snowy  popcorn  came  at  this  time.  We  think 
this  was  about  1900.  We  have  had  many  Carnivals  since, 
but  never  one  equal  to  this  pioneer. 


70  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


Horse  races  were  always  in  order,  one  of  which  is 
remembered  by  old-timers,  in  which  two  young  ladies  rode 
for  a  prize,  a  fine  side  saddle.  This  race  was  arranged  by 
Colonel  Kinney  and  attracted  much  attention.  In  the  autumn 
of  1898  a  large  colony  of  horsemen  brought  their  string  of 
horses  to  winter  here.  They  had  sheds  and  a  track  in  the 
Rincon,  and  we  had  races  galore,  while  our  streets  were  one 
continual  horse  show.  The  biggest  event  of  this  meet  was 
a  ten-mile  race  between  a  lady  from  Kansas  and  a  lady  of  the 
Lone  Star  State.  They  changed  mounts  at  the  end  of  each 
mile.  Of  course  Texas  won.  They  remained  a  few  months, 
then  the  beautiful  horses  were  loaded  on  trains  and  shipped 
out,  and  with  them  went  their  gentlemen  owners  with  their 
families,  their  drivers,  jockeys,  cleaners  and  all  the  riff-raff 
which  follow  and  disgrace  this  noble  sport. 

Early  in  the  8o's  a  couple  of  herdic  coaches  were  put 
into  commission  on  the  streets,  a  stable  built,  and  the  first 
pavilion  ever  erected  in  Corpus  Christi  was  opened  on  the 
beach  near  the  bayou.  A  skating  rink  was  opened  and  semi- 
weekly  dances  were  held  there.  The  coaches,  or  herdies,  as 
we  called  them,  ran  daily  north  and  south  on  Chaparral 
Street,  and  on  dance  or  skating  nights  did  a  big  business. 
The  company  owning  them,  of  which  our  popular  townsman, 
Major  J.  H.  C.  White,  was  president  and  manager,  spent 
considerable  money  in  the  venture,  but  after  a  few  months 
of  honest  effort  abandoned  the  scheme  of  establishing  cheap 
transportation.  Many  years  were  to  pass,  much  money  to  be 
spent,  a  street  railroad  to  be  built  and  abandoned,  the  old 
century  to  die  and  the  new  to  be  a  lusty  youngster,  aged 
ten,  before  a  five-cent  fare  was  pay  on  our  streets. 
But  the  young  people  of  that  day  cherish  many  happy  recol- 
lections of  those  times. 

The  first  city  hack  was  brought  on  a  few  years  after  the 
War  by  the  veteran  stable  owner,  John  Fogg,  and  immedi- 
ately found  favor.  An  election  was  approaching  and  one 
of  the  candidates  scored  a  point  by  engaging  the  only  hack 
in  sight  to  carry  his  friends  to  the  polls.  Things  were  going 
fine  with  him,  all  his  way,  until  he  persuaded  a  gruff  old 
gentleman  to  ride  to  the  voting  place.  Arriving,  the  old 
fellow  refused  to  quit  without  a  longer  ride.  This  was  re- 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  71 


peated  over  and  over.  Becoming  angry,  the  candidate  at- 
tempted force,  only  to  be  met  by  a  rather  ugly  gun.  The 
news  got  out  and  our  angry  politician  was  the  butt  of  the 
crowd.  Up  one  street  and  down  another  sailed  the  hack  with 
its  solemn  passenger  with  the  gun.  The  driver  solved  the 
problem  by  driving  into  the  stable  and  unhitching  the  horses. 
Then,  and  only  then,  did  our  man  condescend  to  alight,  walk 
to  the  box  and  vote  for  the  other  fellow.  Other  vehicles 
followed,  and  even  as  a  small  town  we  supported  two  well 
equipped  livery  stables,  and  the  handy  hack  held  its  own 
until  the  auto  came  to  divide  the  honors.  Previous  to  the 
advent  of  the  cab,  the  livery  stables  kept  a  line  of  road 
wagons,  vehicles  suitable  for  travel  across  the  country,  as 
there  was  no  other  method  of  travel  until  the  stage  lines  were 
established. 

In  1852  Corpus  Christi  was  incorporated,  and  on  the 
first  Tuesday  in  April  of  that  year  our  good  people  met  at 
the  polls  and  elected  B.  F.  Neal  Mayor.  Of  this  gentleman 
the  writer  is  glad  to  be  able  to  give  a  short  sketch,  furnished 
her  by  an  intimate  friend  of  the  family,  and  one  time  inmate 
of  Judge  Neal's  home.  B.  F.  Neal  was  a  Virginian  by  birth 
and  educated  to  the  law.  We  do  not  recall  the  year  he  came 
to  Southwest  Texas.  That  he  was  learned  in  his  profession 
is  proven  by  the  fact  of  his  many  services ;  that  he  was  fitted 
for  almost  any  position  in  life  was  also  proven.  We  find  him 
serving  as  Mayor,  District  Judge,  editor  of  one  of  the  earli- 
est newspapers,  The  Nueces  Valley.  As  a  soldier  he  com- 
manded a  company  during  the  war  between  the  States.  Tak- 
ing a  great  interest  in  the  early  schools,  he  was  one  of  the 
most  prominent  and  useful  citizens  of  the  Corpus  Christi  of 
his  day.  Judge  Neal  was  twice  married,  his  second  wife 
being  a  Miss  Zula  Haynes  of  Philadelphia.  Mrs.  Neal  was 
a  Quakeress  by  birth,  and  a  noble  helpmate  to  her  public- 
spinted,  patriotic  husband,  a  veritable  leader  in  all  works  of 
mercy,  accepting  the  rough  life  of  the  frontier  with  a  meek- 
ness inherited  from  a  long  line  of  God-fearing  ancestors.  She 
aided  the  poor,  nursed  the  sick,  and  by  her  works  was  she 
known.  Should  we  ever  have  a  Hall  of  Fame,  the  name  of 
our  first  Mayor  and  Zula  Haynes,  his  wife,  should  occupy 
a  prominent  niche  therein. 


72  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

In  1853  we  find  as  Mayor  of  Corpus  Christi  one  E.  H. 
Winfield.  Of  this  gentleman  I  can  tell  nothing  more  than 
his  name.  That  his  term  must  have  been  short  we  are  sure, 
as  in  the  same  year  we  see  that  E.  R.  Hopson  is  also  on  the 
list  as  Mayor.  Of  this  gentleman,  as  of  his  predecessor,  we 
know  nothing  except  the  name. 

In  1854  we  greet  H.  W.  Berry  as  his  Honor,  and  this 
leads  us  to  believe  that  the  office  was  held  for  one  year  at 
that  time.  A  sketch  of  Captain  Berry  is  given  elsewhere. 
He  was  at  this  time  a  comparatively  young  man,  an  ex- 
officer  of  the  volunteers  who  had  served  under  General 
Taylor.  He  returned  to  Corpus  Christi  at  the  close  of  the 
Mexican  War,  to  lead  a  long  and  useful  life  with  us. 

1855.  Our  first  Municipal  Father,  Judge  Neal,  is  in 
office  with  us  again. 

1856.  Henry  A.  Maltby,  afterwards  and  for  years  a 
prominent  citizen  of  Brownsville,  is  Mayor. 

1857.  H.  W.  Berry  again,  but  apparently  for  a  short 
time  only,  as  we  find  from  same  records   (copy  furnished 
writer  by  City  Secretary  O.  O.  Wright,  January  i,  1911), 
that  for  1857,  I^58  and  1859  Mr.  Richard  Holbein,  for  many 
years  a  prominent  ranchero,  held  this  office. 

1860-62.  Captain  Berry,  during  this  turbulent  time, 
looked  after  the  interest  of  the  little  war-ridden  town  as 
Mayor. 

1863-65.  Dr.  George  Robertson,  a  native  of  Scotland, 
held  the  reins  of  office,  and  at  this  time  the  position  was 
one  of  peril,  as  the  enemy  were  often  in  evidence.  On  one 
occasion  a  scouting  party  from  the  fleet  espied  three  men 
on  Chaparral  Street  and  chased  them  into  the  home  of 
'Mrs.  Swift,  in  the  rear  of  the  Robertson  home  (corner  of 
Schatzel  and  Water  Streets).  Two  of  the  men  went  under 
beds  and  were  soon  captured,  but  Mrs.  Swift,  with  almost 
superhuman  strength,  pulled  out  a  wardrobe  and  the  Mayor 
slid  behind  it.  She  pushed  it  back  into  the  corner,  and  he 
remained  through  the  hunt,  safely  hidden,  the  woman  and 
the  captured  men  finally  convincing  the  Yanks  that  they 
had  been  seeing  treble,  as  only  two  men  were  there.  One 
of  the  captured  men  was  John  Riggs.  I  do  not  remember 
the  name  of  the  other.  These  boys  drew  starvation  rations  in 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  73 

a  New  Orleans  prison  until  the  close  of  the  War,  but  the  doc- 
tor, escaped.  Dr.  Robertson  died  of  yellow  fever  in  '67.  The 
house  of  good  Mrs.  Swift  has  made  place  for  the  elegant 
home  of  E.  T.  Merriman,  while  the  Robertson  home,  which 
has  for  years  been  the  home  of  his  son  and  widowed  daugh- 
ter, Mrs.  Jessie  Clark,  known  to  all  the  old  residents  for  its 
kindly  Scotch  hospitality,  was  removed,  and  upon  its  site 
was  erected  Lichtenstein's  Department  Store,  the  first  de- 
partment store  for  Corpus  Christi. 

1866-67.  W.  N.  Staples,  who  opened  the  first  lumber 
yard  in  Corpus  Christi/  Mr.  Staples  afterward  opened  a 
large  ranch,  and  for  years  he  and  his  good  wife  were  promi- 
nent in  the  social  life  of  this  section.  Their  ranch  was  ever 
a  welcoming  haven,  and  both  of  them  happy  when  surround- 
ed by  happy  children. 

1868-69.  Colonel  Nelson  Plato.  Here  we  have  an 
illustration  of  how  soon  we  forget  our  political  differences. 
Colonel  Plato  came  to  Corpus  Christi  in  the  Union  Army, 
we  believe  in  command  of  a  colored  regiment,  and  in  the 
next  year  or  so  we  find  him  filling  our  highest  local  office. 
We  might  suppose  that  the  Colonel  was  elected  by  the  Car- 
petbaggers, were  it  not  that  he  comes  again  later,  after  our 
rights  had  been  restored.  The  writer  remembers  him  as  a 
very  pleasant  gentleman. 

1870-72.  J.  B.  Mitchell,  an  early  settler.  Pioneer  hard- 
ware merchant,  at  one  time  very  wealthy.  The  name  "J.  B. 
Mitchell  Co."  stood  for  integrity  in  business  throughout 
South  Texas. 

1873-74.  P.  Doddridge,  pioneer  banker.  Notice  else- 
where. 

1875.  Colonel  Plato  takes  up  the  reins  again  and  metes 
out  justice  to  the  breaker  of  the  law. 

1876.  William  Headen,  one  of  the  best  loved  men  who 
ever  made  a  home  with  us,  son  of  wealthy  parents.    He  was 
truly  a  sincere  follower  of  the  lowly  Nazarene,  and  the  large 
and  prosperous   Methodist   community  of  our  town  owes 
much  to  his  earnest  loyalty  to  the  early  poor  and  struggling 
church.     He  was  such  a    man    as    to    be  rembered  kindly 
forever. 

1877.  J.   C.   Russell,   eminent  jurist,   for  many  years 


74  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

Judge  of  this  District,  finally  resigning  the  office  and  refus- 
ing further  honors  at  the  hands  of  his  admiring  constituents. 
An  ex-Confederate  officer,  a  kindly  man  whose  justice  was 
ever  tempered  with  mercy  in  quantity. 

1877-79.  Hon.  J.  M.  Moore.  Notice  of  this  grand  man, 
father-in-law  of  William  Headen,  elsewhere. 

1880-83.  John  Baptist  Murphy,  lawyer.  Also  ex- 
Confederate  officer.  Of  this  Mayor  the  writer  can  hardly 
be  trusted  to  give  an  unbiased  notice,  and  this  without  fear 
or  favor,  as  so  far  as  known  there  is  neither  kith  nor  kin 
of  the  Judge  in  Texas,  nor  was  he  a  personal  friend,  but  his 
methods  were  so  honest  and  unique  that  he  is  quoted  to  this 
day.  He  drained  our  streets  by  cutting  ditches  to  the  bay. 
The  remains  of  the  ditches  are  to  be  seen  now,  some  of  them 
doing  good  service  today.  He  worked  city  prisoners  on  the 
streets,  and  if  the  prisoner  worked  he  was  given  three  good 
meals  a  day;  if  not  he  was  idle  on  the  traditional  bread 
and  water.  One  man  was  arrested  for  going  barefooted. 
According  to  the  charge  of  his  Honor,  a  man  who  would 
go  barefooted  in  public  was  a  vagrant.  This  man  worked 
out  a  good  stiff  fine,  and  either  wore  shoes  or  left  town. 
During  the  time  of  his  service  as  Mayor  a  company  of 
Regulars  was  camped  here  for  sometime,  a  light  battery 
which  came  for  practice  with  the  new  gatling  gun.  One 
day  an  ex-Confederate  was  met  by  one  of  our  defenders 
who  had  been  drinking.  The  soldier  pulled  the  gentleman's 
pipe  from  his  mouth,  and  a  rough  and  tumble  ensued.  All 
parties  were  arrested  promptly.  The  pipe  owner,  a  stranger, 
had  heard  that  the  Mayor  was  a  Yankee  and  expected  to 
pay  a  nice  fine.  Asked  his  story,  he  said:  "I  served  with 
Lee;  don't  like  the  uniform,  and  when  the  chap  caught  my 
pipe  I  hit  him."  "What,"  said  the  Mayor,  "he  attacked  you 
in  that  manner ;  do  these  men  in  uniform  think  they  can  in- 
sult our  citizens  with  impunity?  You  are  discharged." 
"Bring  on  the  prisoner,"  and  it  required  the  utmost  per- 
suasion of  the  company  officers,  and  strong  assurances  of 
military  punishment  to  save  the  soldier  from  a  taste  of  Texas 
justice.  When  Judge  Murphy  died,  which  he  did  during  his 
second  term,  our  scrip  was  worth  one  hundred  cents  on  the 
dollar.  Not  one  cent  of  debt,  and  a  cash  balance  on  hand  of 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  75 

$12,000,  if  I  am  not  mistaken  as  to  the  exact  sum.  Anyway, 
balance  or  not,  taxes  were  small  and  our  streets  clean.  True, 
we  were  a  small  place  and  municipal  expenses  were  small, 
but  we  worked  no  more  prisoners,  and  within  a  few  years 
scrip  was  cheap  and  taxes  were  not. 

1884-85.  George  F.  Evans.  Mr.  Evans  served  the  un- 
expired  term  of  Judge  Murphy  to  the  perfect  satisfaction  of 
our  people,  but  I  do  not  think  he  again  sought  the  office.  I 
have  no  recollection  of  his  name  figuring  as  a  candidate,  and 
in  those  days  having  so  little  to  occupy  our  minds,  we  took 
an  immense  interest  in  local  politics. 

1886-87.  Captain  C.  C.  Heath,  a  local  merchant,  guided 
the  destinies  of  those  two  years.  During  his  term  the  San 
Antonio  and  Aransas  Pass  Railroad  was  built  into  Corpus 
Christi,  and  we  began  to  feel  the  first  awakening,  and  to 
meet  people  on  the  street  whom  we  did  not  know. 

1888-91.  Henry  Keller  drew  two  terms  and  made  a 
good  Mayor.  During  his  time  the  great  Ropes  boom  started 
and  ended.  Mr.  Keller  did  much  public  work  in  which  he 
was  ably  helped  by  his  lovable  wife.  Mrs.  Keller  visited 
and  welcomed  the  stranger,  and  in  every  way  placed  the 
good  of  the  town  above  personal  matters. 

1892-1903.  O.  C.  Lovenskiold,  son  of  one  of  the  oldest 
families,  a  born  Corpus  Christian,  held  the  office  at  will,  and 
through  a  trying  time.  At  the  collapse  of  the  boom,  when 
our  city  went  through  a  depressing  series  of  misfortunes,  he 
held  the  reins  steadily  and  guided  us  safely  through  the 
breakers.  Being  a  gentleman  of  rare  education  and  of 
wealth,  he  was  able  to  give  both  time  and  talent  to  the  work 
in  hand  during  this  time,  the  darkest,  from  a  business  view, 
we  ever  knew.  Property  steadily  decreased  in  value.  More 
than  half  our  business  houses  were  closed,  and  money  with 
which  to  keep  the  city  affairs  moving  must  have  been  hard 
to  find.  Public  debt  was  inevitable.  The  wonder  was  that 
we  had  a  shred  of  credit  left,  but  we  lived  through,  and  re- 
gret our  Mayor  did  not  live  to  see  all  the  promise  of  our 
first  boom  more  than  fulfilled  in  the  second. 

1904-07.  Dr.  H.  H.  Segrest,  a  Mississippian  by  birth, 
served  through  the  above  years  as  Mayor,  and  later  as  Com- 
missioner. Being  an  ardent  advocate  of  the  commission 


76  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

form  of  government,  he  satisfactorily  looked  after  the  city's 
interest  as  Commissioner. 

1908-09.  Dan  Reid.  It  was  Mr.  Reid's  fortune  to 
begin  his  public  life  with  a  new  and  untried  charter,  but  dur- 
ing the  few  months  of  his  incumbency  he  proved  the  feasi- 
bility of  the  plan.  A  more  extended  notice  elsewhere.  Dur- 
ing his  term  of  office  the  President  of  the  United  States 
visited  Corpus  Christi. 

1910-11.  Clark  Pease,  twenty-second  man  to  hold  the 
office  in  the  fifty-nine  years  since  our  incorporation. 

In  concluding  the  list  of  Mayors  of  our  city,  the  writer 
takes  particular  pleasure  in  comparing  our  first  and  last  in- 
cumbents of  this  office.  Mr.  Roy  Miller  was  chosen  our 
standard  bearer  in  1913,  re-elected  by  a  large  majority  in 
1915,  and  if  our  first  Mayor  might  come  back  from  the 
golden  shore,  his  honest  old  heart  would  be  gladdened  to 
know  that  his  mantle  had  fallen  upon  such  worthy  shoulders  ; 
that  today,  as  in  the  early  days  of  our  town,  its  Mayor  is 
the  friend  of  every  citizen.  The  bright  glare  of  the  electric 
lights  upon  streets,  lighted  in  his  day  only  by  the  moon  and 
stars,  would  not  blind  his  eyes  to  the  fact  that  the  people 
of  now  are  as  able  to  distinguish  an  honest,  upright  man 
as  in  the  long  ago.  There  is  but  one  blot  upon  the  record 
of  our  Mayor ;  he  was  not  born  in  Corpus  Christi.  This  he 
has  remedied  as  far  as  possible  by  his  marriage  to  a  native 
girl,  and  seeing  that  his  children's  first  memories  should  be 
of  our  Celestial  City.  Like  our  first  Mayor,  Mr.  Miller  is 
never  too  busy,  never  too  tired  to  listen  to  the  voice  of  his 
people,  to  aid  and  advise  with  them,  to  rejoice  with  the 
merry,  to  sympathize  with  those  who  sorrow.  With  the 
many  blessings  enjoyed  by  our  city  on  the  coast,  we  feel 
disposed  to  place  our  whole-hearted,  loyal  Roy  Miller  as  not 
the  least  of  these  blessings. 

In  this  list  of  men  who  have  held  the  office  of  Mayor, 
you  will  see  by  a  glance  at  the  column  that  we  have  been 
particularly  fortunate  in  our  choice.  Although  almost  on 
the  border,  and  for  a  long  time,  an  isolated  community, 
there  was  never  lacking,  never  a  dearth  of  highly  educated 
people  in  our  midst.  For  this  same  reason  I  ascribe  our  love 
for  schools.  Whether  they  opened  on  the  day  General  Tay- 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  77 


lor  landed  (when  history  really  begins  with  us),  I  doubt, 
but  that  they  did  shortly  after  I  am  sure.  The  country  jus- 
tice, as  depicted  on  the  stage,  was  never  with  us,  but  if  our 
first  Mayor  should  come  back,  he  would  need  all  the  nerve 
he  undoubtedly  possessed  to  keep  a  calm  demeanor.  In  his 
day  he  proceeded  to  office  on  a  deserted  street,  and  only 
when  some  festive  cowboy  or  boy  sailor  had  looked  too  long 
on  the  red  wine,  did  he  have  a  case  on  docket.  An  occa- 
sional bad  man  of  the  card  sharper  variety  sometimes 
reached  here  and  livened  things  up,  but  his  principal  busi- 
ness was  advisor-in-chief  to  the  little  community.  And  how 
fit  for  this  he  was,  this  early  Mayor !  His  principal  work 
after  this  was  to  agitate,  write  and  talk  deep  water.  No 
entertaining  Presidents  or  near  Presidents'  committees  or 
conventions  was  in  his  day's  work.  Just  plain  work,  and  he 
did  it  well. 


78  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

Corpus  Christi  Schools. 

Some  time  in  the  50*5  Colonel  Kinney,  perhaps  pining 
for  recreation,  sent  to  New  Orleans  and  hired  a  circus.  It 
came  on  a  steamer,  bag  and  baggage,  men  and  horses,  wo- 
men, children,  canvas  tent  and  all,  and  for  one  glorious 
week  the  few  residents  and  everything  for  miles  around  had 
a  perfect  round  of  joyous  excitement.  The  band  played, 
the  riders  performed  their  stunts,  the  concert  woman  sang, 
black-faced  comedians  told  funny  stories  to  the  end  men, 
and  everybody  was  happy. 

Then,  as  usual  in  old  times,  water  became  scarce. 
Teams  were  hired  and  a  long  procession  of  wagons  made  a 
daily  trip  to  the  Nueces  River,  fifteen  miles  away.  For  this 
water  the  wagoners  received  one  dollar  and  fifty  cents  the 
barrel.  They  could  afford  to  enjoy  the  show.  But  the 
steamer  returned  and  the  show  departed,  bemoaned  by  all, 
though  every  song,  joke  and  stunt  was  memorized  and 
served  up  for  years  afterward.  In  memoriam  as  it  were ! 

In  1877  we  again  had  a  show.  Again  it  came  from 
New  Orleans,  but  it  was  not  so  grand  as  Colonel  Kinney's 
circus.  This  time  we  hired  the  costumes  and  represented 
the  animals.  A  great  elephant  required  the  combined  efforts 
of  two  large  men.  Then  the  dromedary,  camel,  lion  and  all 
the  menagerie  were  there.  The  monkey  family,  represented 
by  small  boys,  was  out  in  full  force.  Rex  and  his  court 
reached  town  on  the  Texas-Mexican  train,  at  least  they 
came  from  the  then  new  depot,  and  the  more  than  creditable 
procession,  headed  by  a  band,  marched  the  length  of  our 
two  streets.  At  night  a  grand  ball  was  given  at  the  Market 
Hall.  The  Queen  of  the  Carnival  was  crowned  and  every- 
body being  invited,  attended  and  enjoyed  the  festival.  This 
was  the  first  and  only  Mardi  Gras  ever  held  in  Corpus 
Christi.  It  was  promoted  by  the  Master  Butchers  and  not 
repeated,  we  suppose,  on  account  of  the  heavy  expense.  So- 
cially it  was  a  great  success.  Of  those  Master  Butchers  we 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  79 

remember  the  names  of  August  Ricklefsen,  Henry  Busch 
and  H.  L.  Dreyer. 

Such  things  look  and  sound  trivial  in  this  day,  but  all 
had  a  bearing  on  the  future.  The  same  spirit  which  prompt- 
ed the  circus  and  carnival  prompted  a  try  at  the  newly  dis- 
covered icemaking  plant.  We  had  one  of  the  earliest,  the 
only  one  for  a  long  time  south  o.f  San  Antonio.  Then  we 
read  of  wonderful  electric  lights  and  the  telephone  and  se- 
cured both.  Though  small  we  were  every  ambitious,  and 
this  has  made  a  small  city  of  our  once  little  village  beside  the 
sea.  We  have  a  peculiar  style  of  our  own  in  keeping  up 
with  the  times.  Something  good  is  proposed  and  a  list 
started.  Some  sign,  knowing  escape  is  impossible.  Then 
comes  the  tug,  a  second  list  goes  out  and  more  names  se- 
cured. Then  the  names  of  property  holders  is  canvassed 
and  you  must  dig,  for  the  good  of  the  town,  and  sooner  or 
later  you  will  put  up.  After  a  time  you  see  the  wisdom  of 
giving  and  the  futility  of  trying  to  escape.  Corpus  Christi 
expects  every  man  to  do  his  duty,  and  generally  he  comes  up 
to  the  expectation.  We  have  built  churches,  schools,  parks, 
widened  streets,  and  keep  excellent  public  schools  open  for 
a  session  of  nine  months,  for  both  white  and  colored  pupils, 
one  hospital,  and  various  other  minor  enterprises,  founded 
by  our  people,  either  by  taxation  or  volunteer  contribution. 

The  earliest  school  of  which  we  can  get  authentic  data 
was  taught  by  one  Mr.  Whitely  in  a  small  house  at  the 
corner  of  Lawrence  and  Chaparral  Streets,  where  now  stands 
the  St.  James  Hotel.  Next,  a  school  taught  by  Mrs.  Dix. 
Another  teacher  of  early  days  was  Mrs.  George  Robertson, 
wife  of  our  wartime  Mayor.  Those  schools  were  in  the  late 
4o's  or  early  5o's.  In  1856  Colonel  Lovenskiold  opened  a 
more  pretentious  school  than  had  been  known  to  our  people 
in  bygone  years.  Colonel  Lovenskiold,  then  a  young  man, 
taught  the  higher  classes,  assisted  by  one  Miss  Garden,  and 
Mr.  Croft  had  charge  of  the  smaller  classes.  Later  Mr. 
Lovenskiold  became  a  member  of  the  Bar,  and  a  Mr.  Conrad 
was  employed  to  aid  Mr.  Croft  and  Miss  Garden  in  the 
school,  though  Mr.  Lovenskiold  still  kept  an  interest  in  it  as 
superintendent,  and  his  memory  is  revered  by  the  few  of  the 


80  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


old  pupils  who  are  yet  with  us.  One  of  them  tells  of  a  very 
exciting  incident. 

One  cold  morning  two  brothers,  men  in  size,  came  to 
school  armed  with  pistols,  looking  for  trouble  with  the 
teacher  for  some  fancied  insult  of  the  day  previous.  The 
Colonel  came  in,  and  seeing  the  situation  at  a  glance,  told 
the  boys  to  put  down  their  arms,  which,  after  a  moment's 
hesitation,  they  did.  He  then  ordered  them  to  sit  down. 
He  addressed  them  as  if  pleading  a  case  before  a  jury.  The 
girls  wept,  then  the  small  boys,  and  lastly  the  would-be  des- 
peradoes broke  down  and  sobbed  their  promises  to  lead 
better  school  lives.  This  was  the  one  and  only  trouble  with 
pupils.  He  lived  to  a  good  age,  becoming  later  a  brilliant 
man  and  successful  lawyer,  giving  his  best  days  and  talents 
to  the  upbuilding  of  his  adopted  State,  and  particularly  to 
his  beloved  Corpus  Christi.  He  was  an  officer  in  the  Con- 
federate Army,  at  one  time  in  command  of  this  post. 

Next  we  hear  of  Father  Canard  teaching  a  boys'  school, 
and  later  aiding  Mrs.  Priour  in  keeping  a  little  school  open 
during  the  darkest  days  of  the  War.  Mrs.  Priour  was  also 
assisted  by  Lawyer  Carroll  and  Judge  Neal.  It  seems  that 
of  those  teachers,  Mrs.  Priour  was  the  only  one  who  could 
be  depended  upon  to  open  school  daily,  as  in  her  memoirs 
she  tells  of  a  school  examination  she  was  holding,  at  \vhich 
several  of  the  parents  of  the  children,  and  the  three  gentle- 
men named,  Ganard,  Carroll  and  Neal,  were  present.  The 
street  door,  which  was  closed,  was  suddenly  battered  in  and 
some  of  the  ladies  sitting  against  it  overturned.  In  the  con- 
fusion the  gentlemen  departed  by  the  back  door,  and  the 
officer  in  command  of  the  guard,  seeing  only  women  and 
children  present,  withdrew.  This  party  of  guards  was  on 
a  raid,  and  had  apparently  been  directed  to  the  place  in 
search  of  Mr.  Carroll  and  Judge  Neal. 

These  gentlemen  seemed  to  have  been  a  voluntary  school 
board  and  only  able  to  attend  when  the  Rebels  were  in 
command  of  the.  city.  Later  Mrs.  Price  taught  school  here. 
The  Hidalgo,  a  school  for  young  men  and  boys,  was  founded 
by  Professor  Doherty,  who  was  president  of  the  school  for 
many  years,  afterward  selling  out  to  Professor  Campion, 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST:  81 


who  kept  the  school  until  the  excellent  public  schools  estab- 
lished by  the  State  made  its  maintenance  unnecessary.  Pro- 
fessor Doherty  was  a  gentleman  of  rare  ability,  and  the  new 
country  and  village  were  fortunate  in  having  people  of  this 
class  as  citizens.  The  family  name  is  prominent  still  in  this 
and  adjoining  counties,  and  we  believe  that  the  lady  superin- 
tendent of  the  public  schools  of  Bee  County  is  a  member  of 
this  family,  who  gave  much  for  the  cause  of  education  at  an 
early  date,  and  to  whose  teaching  we  believe  we  owe  much 
of  our  prosperity.  Though  for  many  years  a  border  town, 
we  were  never  a  lawless  community,  or  ever  disgraced  by 
border  feuds  or  mob  rule. 

Professor  Meredith  established  a  school  for  young 
ladies.  Among  other  teachers  of  an  early  day  were  Pro- 
fessor Carpenter  and  wife,  Professor  McOmber  and  wife, 
Mrs.  Richardson,  a  Mr.  Easterly,  Mr.  Richardson,  Miss 
Burke,  and  for  a  while,  at  a  very  early  date,  Prof.  E.  A. 
Atlee.  Professors  Hopson  and  Butcher  taught  at  different 
times.  As  the  town  was  clustered  on  the  waterside,  the 
earlier  schoolhouses  were  on  Water  Street.  Later  came  the 
public  schools,  and  to  get  more  room,  the  first  public  school- 
houses  were  built  on  the  bluff,  One  for  the  white  and  one  for 
the  colored  children.  Later  the  colored  school  was  moved  to 
a  new  site,  and  their  first  building  fitted  up  for  a  high  school 
for  white  pupils.  Now  Corpus  Christi  has  a  magnificent 
High  School  building,  which  was  erected  at  a  cost  of  seven- 
ty thousand  dollars,  and  three  splendid  fireproof  ward 
schools,  besides  several  other  smaller  buildings. 

The  children  of  today  are  reaping  the  harvest  from 
seeds  sown  in  early  days  by  those  hardy,  conscientious 
teachers.  Education  was  ever  paramount  with  us.  In  addi- 
tion to  public  schools,  the  good  Sisters  of  the  Convent  of 
Incarnate  Word  have  for  years  conducted  academies  for 
young  ladies  and  boys,  in  which  the  student  is  carried  from 
the  alphabet  to  the  languages,  music  and  art.  It  is  an  ex- 
cellent school. 


82  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

The  Pastores. 

The  Pastores  are  peculiarly  Mexican,  and  are  held  only 
at  the  Yuletide  season.  To  the  Anglo-Saxon  they  sound 
almost  sacrilegious,  but  these  simple-minded  people  follow 
only  the  customs  of  their  fathers.  We  presume  they  are 
the  sole  remaining  link  between  the  first  of  theatricals,  fos- 
tered by  the  Church,  and  the  modern  drama.  Anyway,  at 
each  Christmastide,  actors  are  chosen  and  a  place  selected 
for  performance.  A  great  drawback  is  in  selecting  the  site. 
An  jacal,  or  hut,  is  cleared,  and  being  so  small,  only  a  few 
spectators  can  view  the  show.  Another  serious  objection  is 
the  total  ignorance  of  the  performers  as  to  the  value  of  time. 
A  performance  scheduled  to  come  off  on  a  certain  date  may 
open  at  8  o'clock  or  at  n  :3O,  just  when  everybody  is  ready. 
The  first  and  leading  character  in  the  Pastores  is  Jesus 
Christ,  who  on  the  first  night  appears  in  a  manger  of 
tissue  paper  and  tawdry  finery.  Comes  the  Wise  Men,  led 
by  a  star  (very  evident)  to  worship  and  bring  gifts.  Joseph 
and  Mary  in  charge  of  the  Babe.  The  Wise  Men  are  shep- 
herds and  carry  crooks.  The  devil,  we  believe,  also  appears 
at  the  beginning  of  the  show.  Songs  and  chants,  perhaps 
several  centuries  old,  are  repeated,  and  the  show  closes  in  the 
wee  small  hours.  Next  night  another  chapter  from  the  life 
of  our  Savior  is  illustrated.  The  Saints  are  introduced  as 
the  story  progresses.  Judas  Iscariot  comes  on  to  aid  the 
devil,  who  is  ever  present,  and  the  good  Saints  are  kept  busy 
to  thwart  him.  Each  night  has  its  chants  and  talks  and 
actors.  For  twelve  nights  this  passion  play  goes  on.  As 
the  present  actor  learned  it  from  his  father,  he  transmits 
it  to  his  children,  and  wherever  there  is  a  few  of  the  Mexican 
race  gathered  together,  there  is  given  the  Pastores,  a  cross 
between  a  Christmas  festival  and  a  religious  duty. 

Though  San  Antonio,  with  her  usual  modesty,  claims 
to  be  the  only  city  in  Texas  in  which  you  may  see  the  play, 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  83 

you  will  find  it  anywhere  on  the  Texas  border,  and  through- 
out Mexico,  the  only  difference  being  in  a  richer  community, 
perhaps  finer  costumes  and  manger,  but  the  play  will  be 
identical,  and  in  a  city  of  some  size  there  will  be  several 
plays  going  on  at  the  same  time,  and  while  the  house  in 
small,  the  yard  will  be  packed  with  spectators  who  will 
stand  for  hours  and  take  turns  in  looking  in  at  the  door  or 
window,  growing  noisy  or  applauding  only  when  St.  Peter 
or  some  other  good  Saint  has  a  tilt  with  the  devil,  in  which 
his  blackship  always  gets  worsted,  and  the  Church  triumphs. 
For  this  peculiar,  half  civilized  people,  discovered  by  Cortez, 
stick  to  the  customs  and  religion  of  their  conquerors. 

The  niche  in  the  social  ground  plan  into  which  fits  the 
negro  of  the  Southern  States,  the  half-breed  of  the  North- 
west, the  Chink  of  the  Pacific  slope,  is  filled  by  the  so-called 
peon  Mexican  in  Southwest  Texas.  Mexican  he  was  in  the 
beginning,  and  Mexican  to  all  intents  he  remains,  though 
his  father,  grandfather  or  great  grandfather  probably  was 
born  in  Texas.  He  is  eligible  to  good  schools,  and  is  em- 
ployed from  youth  to  old  age  by  white  people.  He  never 
adapts  himself  to  their  customs,  or  speaks  their  language, 
nor  does  he  require  wealth  or  worry  about  the  future.  He 
is  willing  to  work  for  a  part  of  the  time,  but  has  not  the  least 
fear  of  losing  his  job.  Of  the  women  of  this  class  only  an 
occasional  one  of  them  will  work.  They  are  good  and  capa- 
ble servants  to  a  certain  extent,  but  somebody  must  think 
for  them.  They  keep  the  kitchen  neat  and  clean,  are  good 
chambermaids,  but  I  never  knew  one  who  could  be  entrusted 
with  any  but  the  plainest  cooking,  nor  have  they  the  least 
desire  to  learn.  The  men  will  work  exceedingly  well  for  the 
people  who  understand  them,  and  size  up  and  "soldier"  on  a 
stranger.  Mexican  servants  are  used  almost  exclusively  on 
the  ranches.  They  are  perfectly  content  with  just  enough 
to  keep  hunger  away,  and  a  hut  to  live  in.  As  a  class,  they 
are  inveterate  gamblers,  and  any  extra  money  will  go  on 
the  first  game  or  chicken  fight  he  finds. 

They  are  the  most  hospitable  people  in  the  world,  and 
will  divide  the  last  tortillas  (thin  corn  cakes)  with  a  friend. 
They  have  the  same  food  one  day  as  another,  tortillas 
and  frijoles  (pink  beans  dried  and  boiled  with  a  little  pepper 


84  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


and  lard  for  seasoning).  On  festive  occasions  they  make 
tamales  (meat  highly  flavored  with  pepper,  rolled  in  a  corn 
dough,  wrapped  in  a  corn  shuck  and  steamed).  The  finished 
product  is  about  the  size  of  a  fat  cigar,  and  very  toothsome. 
On  very  extra  occasions  the  filling  is  varied  by  adding  cur- 
rants and  raisins,  or  using  chicken  in  the  place  of  beef.  The 
foundation  of  all  their  dishes  is  plain  corn.  This  they  soak  in 
lime  water  and  then  grind  to  a  paste  on  a  stone  called  a 
metate.  Only  a  Mexican  woman  could  manipulate  one. 
Their  grocery  bills  are  very  modest,  and  with  their  frugal 
ways  they  might  become  well  to  do,  but  seem  to  have  no 
ambition  along  that  line,  and  though  they  may  attend  school, 
which  a  few  of  them  do,  they  scorn  to  speak  any  but  the 
Spanish  language,  and  any  attempt  to  better  their  condition, 
either  by  Church  or  State,  has  failed  signally.  They  are 
veritable  children  in  some  respects,  whole  families  visiting 
the  cheap  shows  and  riding  the  hobby  horses,  or  enjoying 
any  childish  amusement,  with  never  a  thought  for  tomorrow. 
In  their  amusements  the  Spanish  and  Indian  blood  is 
apparent.  Bull  fights  are,  of  course,  prohibited  under  our 
flag,  but  cock  fighting  is  popular.  A  few  years  since  they 
had,  and  may  have  yet,  a  festival  on  St.  John's  Day,  called 
"Running  the  Rooster/'  only  it  sounds  better  in  Spanish. 
Mounted  men  rode  at  full  speed  and  caught  at  the  head  of  a 
well-greased  rooster,  who  was  suspended  by  the  feet  at  right 
height  to  be  grabbed  by  passing  horsemen.  If  he  succeeded 
in  getting  the  head  from  the  fowl,  or  pulling  the  fowl  down, 
he  won.  This  is  cruel,  and  I  expect  now  prohibited  on 
most  ranches.  Naturally  cruel  to  animals,  he -is  kindly  in 
home  life,  particularly  to  the  aged,  and  clannish  to  a  de- 
gree, whole  families  of  several  generations  occupying  one 
hut.  The  advent  of  the  hurrying  stranger  has  changed  his 
habits  somewhat.  Where  he  used  to  work  every  day  of  the 
week  for  fifty  cents  the  day,  he  now  gets  a  dollar  or  a  dollar 
fifty,  and  only  works  half  the  time,  no  better  off  than  in  the 
old  days.  He,  like  the  Chink,  learns  his  work,  and  under 
no  circumstances  varies  unless  possibly  when  shown  some- 
thing new.  The  women  of  all  classes  do  exquisite  drawn 
work,  and  beautiful  sewing  by  hand.  But  their  dress  is  the 
same,  a  skirt  and  shawl,  called  in  Spanish,  rebosa,  summer 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  85 

and  winter,  and  they  seem  perfectly  indifferent  either  to 
heat  or  cold. 

This  sketch,  of  course,  refers  to  the  class  known  as 
peons  in  Mexico,  the  class  to  which  President  Diaz  handed 
the  order  to  keep  out  of  Mexico  City  during  the  Centennial 
of  1910,  unless  they  wore  pantaloons,  shoes  and  hats;  the 
class  who  prefer  exposing  their  children  to  smallpox  and 
being  done  with  it,  to  having  them  vaccinated,  and  who  hide 
their  sick  from  the  American  doctors,  A  class  far  more 
picturesque  than  clean,  giving  ordinary  care  to  any  work  on 
hand,  and  enjoying  idleness  as  no  other  people  can,  but  a 
very  necessary  element  in  this  country  where  no  other  ser- 
vants may  be  had,  though  perfectly  useless  to  the  stranger 
who  does  not  understand  his  ways.  He  is  apparently  with- 
out reasoning  power.  If  employed  in  midwinter  and  told  to 
start  morning  fires,  he  will  keep  them  going  in  July  if  not 
stopped.  Or  if  irrigating  the  garden  is  one  of  his  duties,  he 
will  start  the  water  flowing  at  the  usual  hour,  though  a 
heavy  rain  be  falling,  and  the  garden  under  several  inches 
of  water.  Consequently  the  employer  must  be  on  duty  every 
hour  of  every  day. 

In  a  file  of  old  papers,  the  Nueces  Valley  published  in 
Corpus  Christi,  we  find  under  the  date  of  Saturday,  August 
27,  1870,  the  retiring  address  of  the  founder  of  the  paper, 
B.  F.  Neal.  He  says :  "This  issue  terminates  our  connec- 
tion with  the  paper.  When  we  commenced  the  publication 
of  the  Valley,  our  town  was  prosperous,  and  gave  evidence 
of  future  greatness,  but  things  now  are  not  like  they  were. 
Another  consideration,  our  health  has  gradually  been  giving 
way  for  the  last  twelve  months.  We  do  not  feel  able  to 
attend  to  the  duties  of  publishing  a  newspaper.  We  leave 
it  to  younger  heads,  men  possessing  more  intellectual  and 
physical  ability  than  we  do  at  this  time/' 

He  then  states  that  all  contracts  for  subscriptions  and 
advertisements  will  be  fulfilled  by  his  successors.  The  value 
•  of  the  paper  will  be  greater,  as  it  will  hereafter  be  the  of- 
ficial organ  of  this  District.  In  another  article  Judge  Neal 
emphatically  declines  to  serve  on  the  County  Radical 
Committee. 

The  old   Southerner  declines  to  profit  by  the  misfor- 


86  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST: 


tunes  of  his  people,  or  to  join  the  forces  of  his  enemy,  and 
this  child  of  his  brain,  solace  of  his  old  age,  his  beloved 
paper,  passes  out  of  his  hands  and  is  edited  by  one 
Drummond. 

Under  date  of  November  21,  1870,  we  find  the  follow- 
ing order  from  the  State  Capitol,  verbatim :  "Proprietor  of 
Nueces  Valley.  You  are  hereby  notified  that  I  have  this 
day  appointed  your  paper,  Nueces  Valley,  the  official  organ 
of  i6th  Judicial  District.  Signed  E.  J.  Davis,  Governor. 
James  P.  Newcomb,  Secretary  of  State,  in  year  of  our  Lord 
1870,  Independence  of  Texas  Thirty-fifth  year."  This  noti- 
fication did  not  reach  Corpus  Christi  until  late  in  December. 
On  December  24  the  editor  tells  the  public  that  his  paper 
has  been  appointed  official  organ  for  the  following  counties : 
Nueces,  Calhoun,  San  Patricio,  Victoria  and  Duval,  the 
latter  unorganized.  He  also  notified  his  readers  that  any 
legal  notice  published  in  any  other  paper,  or  any  notice  of 
sale,  or  any  sale  made,  would  be  void,  unless  due  notice  of 
same  was  published  in  his  paper. 

For  the  next  few  years  this  editor  had  a  clear  monopoly, 
and  little  but  legal  notices  appeared  in  its  columns,  but  we 
gather  a  few  local  items.  Copying  from  issue  of  August 
24,  1870,  we  get:  "To  the  recruiting  officer  at  Corpus 
Christi :  Go  on  with  recruiting,  no  change  in  order  No.  3. 
Signed  by  the  Governor."  The  next  issue  calls  attention : 
"Young  men  between  ages  18  and  45  wishing  to  join  Ninth 
Regiment,  Mounted  State  Guards,  Colonel  T.  C.  Barden,  call 
at  City  Hall  at  8  p.  m.  Saturday  evening  when  company  will 
be  organized  and  elect  officers.  Men  and  officers  will  be 
mounted  and  equipped  immediately."  Later  we  learn  that 
they  met  and  elected  D.  Sprague,  Captain;  M.  W.  Myers, 
First  Lieutenant;  William  Ohler,  Second  Lieutenant. 

Later  Sheriff  John  McClare  reports  that  he  had  en- 
rolled three  hundred  and  sevent)  militiamen.  This  was  the 
famous  State  Guard  with  which  Governor  Davis  attempted 
to  rule  Texas,  and  -which  to  this  day  are  remembered  as 
licensed  freebooters,  and  rendered  their  name  of  State  Guard 
a  term  to  be  hated.  But  in  our  part  of  the  State  we  needed 
this  guard  to  defend  our  border  from  raiding  Indians  and 
Mexicans.  Their  work  was  legitimate,  and  the  good  people 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  87 

of  this  section  never  realized  what  Carpetbag  rule  meant  to 
other  parts  of  the  State,  and  many  good  men  enrolled  for 
the  protection  of  their  homes.  But  better  times  were  fast 
coming.  In  October,  1871,  the  registered  vote  of  our  coun- 
ty was  seven  hundred.  In  November,  same  year,  the  county 
goes  Democrat  by  five  majority.  Better  still,  the  District 
hands  in  a  Democratic  lemon  of  fair  size.  Vale  Carpet- 
bagger forevermore.  Texas  has  again  won  her  independ- 
ence, and  we  are  glad  to  relate  more  pleasant  events. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

Early  Newspaper  Articles. 

On  October  i,  1871,  the  first  public  school  opened  in 
Corpus  Christi  with  one  hundred  and  forty-six  pupils,  the 
late  Judge  Stanley  Welch  coming  down  from  San  Antonio 
to  organize  it.  He  succeeded  and  placed  Professor  Hanna 
in  charge  as  superintendent,  and  the  children  of  that  day 
and  time  had  several  surprises  coming  their  way.  Professor 
Faupel  opened  a  music  school.  Better  still,  Professor  Mc- 
Donald opened  a  dancing  academy.  The  Convent  of  the 
Incarnate  Word  advertised  for  pupils.  What  a  lot  of  work 
for  our  one  hundred  and  forty-six  shavers.  But  the  older 
people  were  keeping  pace,  and  things  were  picking  up  rap- 
idly. The  old  light  house  on  the  bluff  was  torn  away.  It 
was  never  used,  but  it  was  picturesque  and  its  removal  was 
regretted.  The  first  fire  engine  came  about  this  time  and 
our  first  fire  company  organized,  with  the  kindly,  genial 
Felix  Nossel  as  president,  and  the  equally  popular  James 
McKenzie  as  secretary. 

From  files  of  the  old  papers  we  see  fine  loin  steaks  ad- 
vertised at  five  cents  the  steak.  There  were  no  barbed  wire 
fences  in  those  days.  In  December,  1871,  Captain  H.  Haw- 
ley,  of  the  schooner  Bessie,  brings  in  a  fine  lot  of  green 
turtles  and  distributes  them  among  his  friends.  Fish  are 
torpid  from  cold  and  many  picked  up  in  shoal  water,  particu- 
larly pompanos. 

Other  items  of  this  holiday  season  of  '71  and  '72  were : 

"Herman  Meuly  has  an  up-to-date  book  store/'  "There 
are  at  present  twenty-eight  pianos  in  town."  City  Marshal 
P.  Whelan  publishes  a  notice  that  dogs  must  be  tagged,  and 
hogs  penned  up.  Our  artesian  water  is  found  to  contain 
sulphurate  of  hydrogen  gas,  carbonic  acid  gas,  sulphate  of 
soda,  chloride  of  calcium,  sodium,  bicarbonate  of  iron.  The 
well  has  stopped  flowing  and  the  citizens  are  wanting  it 
started  again.  About  this  date  a  firm  at  Banquette  sent  in, 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  89 

as  payment  for  goods,  to  Colonel  N.  Gussett,  a  goods  box 
and  a  corn  sack  full  of  silver  coin. 

Mr.  D.  Hirsch  opened  a  dry  goods  and  grocery  store. 
This  gentleman  was  a  citizen  of  the  old  school,  and  Corpus 
Christi  owes  much  to  his  memory.  In  addition  to  his  large 
business  interests,  he  was  identified  with  every  public  move- 
ment for  the  good  of  our  city.  He  was  president  of  the 
first  National  Bank  ever  opened  here.  He  gave  much  time 
and  care  to  our  public  schools,  and  as  president  of  the  school 
board,  did  much  to  make  our  High  School  one  of  the  finest 
in  the  State,  and  one  of  the  first  three  schools  to  be  affiliated 
with  the  University  of  Texas.  Going  back  and  still  quoting 
the  Valley  paper,  we  find  a  report  on  an  election  for  Justice 
of  the  Peace.  In  1870  a  Governor's  proclamation  published 
orders  for  the  polls  to  open  on  Monday  morning,  and  to 
stay  open  until  the  following  Thursday  at  sundown.  Think 
of  it,  four  days  to  poll  seven  hundred  votes ! 

On  May  13,  1871,  we  find  the  first  notice  of  a  bonus 
asked  of  our  people,  when  the  freeholders  of  the  city  petition 
the  Mayor,  J.  B.  Mitchell,  to  order  an  election  to  decide  by 
ballot  if  we  will  vote  bonds  to  the  amount  of  $25,000  to  pay 
the  Texas  Navigation  Company  to  dig  a  channel  up  to  our 
wharf.  I  give  the  names  of  the  freeholders  of  that  date : 
Charles  Weidenmuller,  J.  W.  Ward,  H.  L.  Allen,  James  R. 
Barnard,  J.  S.  McCampbell,  Felix  Nossel,  C.  Cahill,  F. 
Stephenson,  James  McKenzie,  L.  Webber,  Byrne  &  Buckley, 
T.  Baldeschwiller,  H.  T.  O'Brien,  John  Dunn,  J.  Pollan,  J. 
Cody,  F.  Werner,  R.  Doherty,  Ben  Gravett,  F.  Overton, 
William  Dyree,  Susan  Leonard,  Joe  Almond,  W.  B.  Wrath- 
er,  Fred  Busse,  H.  Taylor,  Ed  Windisch,  Richard  Power, 
R.  Jordan,  J.  C.  Russell,  William  Headen,  Thomas  C.  Kear- 
ney, George  F.  Evans,  H.  W.  Berry,  George  Hobbs,  T.  B. 
Mussett,  F.  Fabebe,  P.  Leonard,  B.  F.  Neal,  Thomas  Allen, 
T.  Parker,  P.  Benson,  J.  T.  Atwood,  Pat  McCabe,  L.  D. 
Brewster,  George  Gold,  J.  R.  Peterson,  E.  T.  Joy,  J.  Fitz- 
simmons,  T.  Forsch,  W.  S.  Rains,  P.  Whelan,  Henry  F. 
Barnard,  William  Headen,  Sr.,  C.  Lovenskiold,  W.  Staples, 
John  Fogg,  P.  Hoffman,  P.  H.  McManigle,  P.  Doddridge, 
J.  B.  Mitchell,  Kletus  Hoffman,  A.  Albertson,  Kate  Mc- 
Manigle, Alonza  Montgomery. 


90  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

The  election  is  ordered  for  June  3,  1871.  \Ye  quote 
returns.  "Hurrah!  The  election  is  over!  Never  before 
have  we  been  called  on  to  vote  on  a  matter  of  public  import- 
ance. On  the  first  call  Corpus  Christi  comes  out  right  side 
up.  The  entire  registered  vote  of  the  city  is  one  hundred 
and  eighty-one.  \Yhen  the  polls  closed  it  was  found  that  one 
hundred  and  fifty  had  been  cast,  every  one  of  them  for  the 
channel  and  not  one  against  it."  And  to  this  day,  1915.  we 
vote  aye  to  everything  proposed  for  the  good  of  the  city. 

On  June  17  Governor  Davis  visited  the  city  and  sold 
his  home  to  X.  Gussett  for  four  thousand  dollars.  The  house 
yet  stands,  corner  Broadway  and  Leopard  Streets.  P.  \Yhe- 
lan  was  City  Marshal.  The  Corpus  Christi  and  Indianola 
U.  S.  Mail  line  advertised,  "Fast  schooners,  Agnes,  Henri- 
etta and  Emily.  Captains  Moore,  Stephenson  and  Stein- 
hardt." 

"The  Presbyterian  ladies  netted  six  hundred  dollars 
on  a  fair  for  their  church.  Gen.  S.  G.  Brown  was  Revenue 
Collector  for  this  District,  Thomas  Kearney  for  this  port. 
Twenty-three  large  carts  of  bonded  goods  were  sent  by  S. 
D.  Brewster  to  the  City  of  Mexico."  Again  quoting,  "June 
i,  fine  grapes  grown  in  Corpus  Christi.  Sweet  potatoes  sell 
at  four  dollars  per  bushel.  Mr.  J.  W.  Scott  tells  editor  that 
best  beeves  sell  for  $12  to  $15  per  head.  May  13,  1871,  ter- 
rific hailstones  fell  west  of  Corpus  Christi,  wounding  four 
men,  and  killing  seventeen  cattle  for  James  Bryden,  who  is 
starting  a  herd  to  Kansas." 

Our  paper  now  gets  a  little  spiteful.  \Ye  quote  the 
editor :  "We  thought  that  the  War  ended  on  the  Rio  Grande, 
but  it  seems  that  Judge  Russell  has  renewed  hostilities.  He 
has  dismissed  the  quarantine  officer  at  Point  Isabel  for  the 
sole  reason  that  he  is  not  a  physician."  Then  a  long  article 
as  to  this  lese  majesty.  "He  not  only  dismissed  the  officer, 
but  jailed  one  Captain  Burke  of  the  State  Militia  who  at- 
tempted to  reinstate  him."  Captain  Burke  refused  to  accept 
freedom  and  waited  for  Governor  Davis  to  intervene,  but 
the  old  State  was  gaining  her  freedom.  Davis  had  pressing 
business  at  other  points  and  Judge  Russell  lived  to  lead  many 
a  Democratic  meeting  to  victory. 

Dodderidge  &  Lott  opened  the  first  bank  in  Corpus 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  91 

Christi.  \Ye  copy  a  big  ad  of  September  13,  1870:  "One  of 
the  largest  exhibitions  of  stock  ever  seen  in  \Ycst  Texas  will 
be  sold  without  reservation  on  the  above  date  at  Rancho 
Palo  Alto,  twenty-one  miles  west  of  Corpus  Christi.  Fif- 
teen hundred  head  of  horses,  mules  and  colts,  sold  in  lots  to 
suit  purchaser.  Also  cattle,  two  thousand  head.  Sheep  five 
thousand  head,  improved  sheep.  Also  Laguna  or  Palo  Alto 
Ranch,  500  acres  with  improvements.  Good  dwelling  of  five 
rooms,  kitchen,  outhouses  and  good  stock  pens.  Terms  cash 
or  its  equivalent  in  U.  S.  currency,  on  deliver}*  of  property. 
The  Xueces  County  Jockey  Club,  recently  organized,  will 
have  a  committee  on  hand  to  judge  stock  and  award  pre- 
miums in  accordance  thereto,  to  be  governed  by  the  rules  of 
the  Club  to  be  known  at  time.  To  give  greater  attraction 
to  the  occasion  a  grand  barbecue  will  be  given  in  a  grove 
near  the  mansion  house.  For  the  sporting  community  ar- 
rangements will  be  made  for  all  kinds  of  amusements,  bull 
fights,  horse  racing,  cock  fights,  target  shooting.  It  is  in- 
tended by  its  projectors  to  make  this  the  most  interesting 
meeting  of  stock  and  stockmen  ever  held  in  \Yestern  Texas. 
Signed,  J.  James  and  others."  \Ye  suspect  that  one  name 
represented  the  whole  push,  that  one  man  constituted  the 
Xueces  Club,  and  that  this  same  gentleman  wanted  to  turn 
his  holdings  into  money,  or  its  equivalent  in  greenbacks,  and 
get  out.  The  old  paper  of  long  ago  tells  us  nothing  further 
of  the  meeting,  and  we  copied  the  old  ad  to  illustrate  the 
difference  in  amusements  combined  with  business  of  long 
ago  and  present  day,  and  wonder  what  part  fell  to  the 
suffragette. 


92  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST: 


CHAPTER  XX. 

The  First  Churches. 

The  first  Methodist  Sunday  School  was  organized  in 
Corpus  Christi  in  1858.  We  have  not  the  names  of  the 
founders  of  this  school,  but  of  the  early  teachers  we  are 
able  to  record  the  names  of  William  Headen,  Ed  W'indisch, 
G.  B.  Williams  and  wife,  Elder  Headen  and  wife,  Col. 
John  Moore  and  wife  and  daughters.  For  a  long  time  this 
church  was  the  only  Protestant  church  in  this  section,  and 
all  Protestants  met  for  worship  there.  The  old  church  stood 
on  the  back  of  a  lot  at  the  corner  of  Mesquite  and  Mann 
Streets,  a  small  adobe  house  with  seating  capacity  of  not 
more  than  two  hundred. 

The  Masonic  Fraternity  owned  a  large,  rambling,  two- 
story  lodge  room  on  the  front  of  the  lot.  This  building  was 
also  used  as  a  schoolhouse,  and  around  these  two  buildings 
was  centered  almost  the  entire  social  life  of  the  town.  Big 
meetings  were  held  to  which  came  the  entire  Protestant 
community.  Dinner  was  brought  and  the  day  spent  in 
prayer  and  praise,  with  perhaps  a  little  gossip  at  intervals. 
Cotton  quilts  and  tiny  pillows  were  furnished  by  the  sisters 
for  the  comfort  of  the  small  children,  and  the  mother  of  a 
large  family  of  youngsters  did  not  consider  the  size  of  her 
family  an  excuse  for  staying  away  from  church,  and  if  she 
wanted  to  place  them  and  herself  in  the  social  swim,  she 
must  begin  in  the  church.  The  good  women  also  organized 
a  band  of  hope  and  temperance  council,  which  mei  weekly 
in  the  Masonic  Building.  Little  plays  were  gotten  up,  reci- 
tations learned,  drills  taught,  and  the  public  came  to  applaud. 

The  Methodist  people  recently  completed  a  fine  new 
church  on  the  site  of  the  old  building,  and  we  feel  proud  of 
our  progress,  but  doubt  if  ever  again  we  will  do  the  good 
work  as  it  was  done  in  the  old  days.  But  times  change,  and 
we  must  keep  up  with  the  times.  The  Masons  sold  out  to 
the  Methodists  and  built  a  lodge  room  in  the  southern  part 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  93 

of  the  city,  and  in  1914  it  was  replaced  by  an  up-to-date 
Temple. 

Shortly  after  the  Civil  War  the  other  Protestant  de- 
nominations withdrew  and  built  churches  of  their  own.  The 
Presbyterians  have  a  fine  brick  church,  the  munificent  gift 
of  Mrs.  H.  M.  King,  a  memorial  to  her  husband,  Capt. 
Richard  King.  The  Baptists  have  a  new  brick  church,  a 
credit  to  the  congregation  and  a  pride  to  the  city.  The 
Christian  Church  people  have  a  comfortable  tabernacle. 
They  also  have  several  small  places  of  worship  in  the  city. 
The  Episcopalians  have  a  church  on  one  of  the  most  desir- 
able sites  in  the  city.  The  Catholics,  who  were  first  to  or- 
ganize a  church  here,  have  a  church  for  the  English-speak- 
ing people,  a  German  and  a  Mexican  church.  Also  a  large 
convent  where  the  good  Sisters  maintain  a  most  excellent 
school  for  young  ladies,  many  girls  coming  in  from  farms 
and  ranches  to  take  lessons  with  those  lovable  women. 

On  June  7,  1872,  the  village  was  terribly  excited  over 
the  news  of  the  murder  of  Mr.  George  Hatch,  an  old  and 
respected  citizen.  He  was  shot  to  death  in  his  buggy,  on  the 
north  side  of  the  reef,  in  full  view  of  the  town.  Mr.  Hatch 
was  an  early  settler  and  owned  a  splendid  vineyard  at  Ingle- 
side.  His  habit  of  making  a  weekly  trip  to  Corpus  Christi 
for  mail  and  supplies  was  undoubtedly  known  to  his  assas- 
sins, who  laid  an  ambush  and  shot  him.  He  fell  forward 
across  the  dashboard  in  a  kneeling  position.  His  slayers 
cut  out  -his  pockets,  took  his  horses  from  the  buggy,  and 
fled.  A  few  hours  later  a  passing  traveler  found  the  body 
and  brought  the  news  to  town.  His  slayers  were  never 
caught.  The  citizens  were  terror  stricken  at  the  boldness  of 
the  crime,  in  open  day  and  in  view  of  the  Court  House. 
This  old  gentleman,  83  years  old,  was  most  foully  slain,  and 
obviously  by  parties  who  knew  his  habits,  and  who  knew  the 
locality.  A  mass  meeting  was  called  and  a  volunteer  guard 
placed  nightly  over  the  sleeping  hamlet.  The  people  were 
thoroughly  aroused  over  the  crimes,  including  the  attack  on 
Captain  King,  the  murder  of  Mr.  Murdoc,  and  the  poor 
men  at  Pensegal.  But  crime  in  the  vicinity  held  its  own 
until  the  famous  raid  of  1875.  At  this  time  the  hunt  for 
criminals  was  so  earnest,  that  probably  the  gang  which  had 


94  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

been  operating  in  this  county  were  exterminated  for  this 
latter  crime. 

Unless  there  is  something  in  a  name,  and  our  name  of 
Body  of  Christ  was  a  protection,  I  cannot  understand  how 
our  little  settlement  escaped  annihilation.  This  little  town, 
surrounded  by  a  dense  wilderness,  in  which  lurked  the  sav- 
age on  hunt  for  scalps  and  lawless  Mexicans  hunted  out  of 
their  own  land.  True,  our  men  adorned  themselves  with 
six-shooters  and  were  fine  shots,  but  except  for  a  few  days 
or  nights  after  some  startling  crime,  no  guard  was  set,  or 
precautions  for  safety  taken.  We  bathed,  boated  and  lived 
as  careless  as  w^e  do  today,  and  the  town  might  have  been 
rushed  and  taken  at  any  time.  But  our  Mexican  citizens 
claim  that  storms  and  other  calamities  are  averted  by  the 
name  and  would  not  change  it  to  commonplace  Smithville  or 
Jonesboro  for  a  King's  ransom. 

We  come  now  to  a  record  of  the  old  families  of  a  later 
date.  Men  who  came  to  our  new  country  to  begin  all  over 
and  mend  fortunes  broken  by  the  Civil  War,  men  who  gave 
a  new  start,  men  who  gave  a  new  impetus  to  the  town,  who 
lived  the  remainder  of  their  days  here,  and  whose  children 
and  grandchildren  are  of  the  old  guard  of  this  new,  hustling, 
growing  city  of  today. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  95 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

Some  Early  Settlers. 

William  Biggio,  of  the  Confederate  Navy,  and  who  was 
one  of  the  crew  of  the  steamer  Webb,  which  attempted  to 
pass  New  Orleans  from  Vicksburg,  and  its  Yankee  gunboats 
to  the  open  sea.  The  Webb  was  captured,  but  Mr.  Biggio 
lived  to  tell  the  story  of  the  foolhardy  attempt,  and  of  his 
experience  in  a  Northern  prison.  For  twenty  years  he  was 
proprietor  of  our  one  hotel,  the  St.  James,  and  entertained 
everybody  of  note  who  visited  our  town.  He  was  a  man  of 
unbounded  charity,  and  while  entertaining  the  noted  visitors, 
had  ever  a  guard  of  mendicants  at  his  kitchen  door,  and 
William  Biggio  turned  no  man  away  hungry,  whether  he  had 
the  price  or  not.  The  good  name  is  perpetuated  by  several 
sons  and  one  daughter. 

Captain  James  Hunter,  an  ex-Confederate  officer, 
opened  a  livery  stable  and  prospered. 

Mark  Downey,  for  years  a  dealer  in  stoves,  genial, 
kindly,  and  a  credit  to  his  adopted  land.  He  was  at  one 
time  a  member  of  the  City  Council,  and  also  second  post 
commander  of  our  first  camp  of  Confederate  Veterans.  He 
was  an  Irishman  and  proud  of  it,  though  born  in  London,  a 
devout  Catholic,  one  of  his  brothers  being  a  Priest.  He  be- 
longed to  Hays'  Louisiana  Brigade,  and  came  to  Corpus 
Christi  with  his  young  wife  directly  after  hostilities  ceased, 
remaining  in  business  until  his  death,  a  few  years  since.  Mr. 
Downey  is  survived  by  several  daughters  and  one  son,  Jo- 
seph. They  are  all  Southerners,  and  proud  of  the  fact. 

Colonel  Spann,  a  courtly  gentleman  of  the  old  school; 
his  sons  and  daughters  are  residents  of  different  localities  in 
the  State. 

George  French,  a  merchant  and  for  years  a  county  of- 
ficial, was  in  the  fight  at  Fort  Esperanzo.  He  commanded 
a  battery,  and  years  afterwards  a  brother  officer,  now  in  the 
Confederate  Home  at  Austin,  told  me  that  the  Rebs  got  so 
excited  that  Captain  French  was  in  the  act  of  storming  the 


96  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

other  Confederate  battery  which  he  commanded ;  that  he  had 
to  hold  his  fire  and  surrender  to  get  the  mistake  rectified. 

M.  Lichtenstein,  also  a  son  of  the  South  by  choice,  made 
a  new  start  in  life  shortly  after  the  close  of  hostilities,  start- 
ing in  a  moderate  way  in  dry  goods  and  clothing,  and 
gradually  built  the  great  business  which  two  of  his  sons 
conduct  today.  The  youngest  son  is  an  officer  in  the 
United  States  Navy,  and  will  serve  under  the  old  flag  as 
faithfully  as  did  his  honored  father  under  the  beloved 
Southern  Cross.  Maurice  Lichtenstein  was  at  one  time  a 
prisoner  of  war  at  Camp  Chase,  and  though  he  had  no 
strong  ties  in  Texas,  he  resolutely  refused  to  take  the  oath 
of  allegiance  to  the  United  States,  though  by  so  doing  he 
could  have  left  the  prison  with  all  its  horrors,  and  found 
ease  and  comfort  with  Northern  relatives.  He  voluntarily 
returned,  on  being  exchanged,  to  his  command,  Green's 
Texas  Brigade,  and  served  to  the  end  of  the  War. 

R.  G.  Blossman,  for  years  the  leading  grocer  of  our 
city,  was  of  a  staunch  Southern  family,  having  lost  two 
elder  brothers  in  the  army.  Mr.  Blossman  also  started  in 
a  small  way  and  until  1914  conducted  a  large  business  built 
up  by  his  energy  and  business  methods. 

Captain  James  Thompson,  a  Kentuckian  by  birth,  was 
for  many  years  in  business  with  Mr.  Blossman.  He  also 
was  an  ex-Confederate,  and  retired  from  business  a  few 
years  since.  His  death  occurred  in  1915. 

August  Ricklefsen,  though  born  and  reared  in  Germany, 
became  an  American  citizen  in  every  sense  of  the  word, 
having  served  with  poorly  equipped,  poorly  rationed,  and 
altogether  unpaid  Rebel  Cavalry  which  patrolled  on  the 
coast.  A  good  soldier  ever  makes  a  good  citizen.  August 
Ricklefsen  was  both. 

John  Uehlinger  was  also  a  German  who  became  a 
Southern  soldier  and  stayed  with  his  people,  turning  his 
cavalry  saber  not  into  a  pruning  hook  but  to  a  scoop,  con- 
ducting a  grocery  and  bakery  for  many  years,  aiding  many 
of  his  countrymen  to  get  a  business  start  in  the  New  World. 

James  McKenzie  doffed  the  gray  and  opened  the  first 
store  in  Corpus  Christi  for  the  sale  of  paints  and  painters* 
supplies.  Mr.  McKenzie  was  killed  by  a  street  car  many 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  97 

years  ago,  being  the  only  victim  of  the  early  dummy  line 
built  here  during  the  Ropes  boom.  "Little  Mac,"  as  his 
friends  called  him,  was  a  good  man,  ever  ready  to  visit 
and  assist  the  sick  in  the  days  when  hired  nurses  were  un- 
known. 

Captain  Thomas  Beynon  commanded  a  cavalry  com- 
pany in  the  coast  section,  and  made  a  noted  ride  of  twenty- 
one  miles  to  get  to  the  bombardment  of  the  city,  reaching 
here  with  but  a  corporal's  guard  of  his  company,  owing  to 
the  poor  condition  of  their  mounts.  The  Captain  went 
into  the  livery  business,  and  operated  stage  lines  to  the  Rio 
Grande  until  the  railroads  arrived.  He  was  at  one  time 
Sheriff  of  our  county,  which  office  he  resigned  to  take  a 
position  with  the  Laureles  Pasture  Company,  afterward  re- 
turning and  resuming,  with  his  sons,  the  livery  business. 
His  death  occurred  in  1914. 

Captain  Oliver  crossed  the  Red  River  into  Texas  the 
day  that  war  was  declared  against  Mexico,  served  in  that 
war,  in  the  Indian  Wars,  and  again  in  the  Confederate 
Army.  The  Captain  told  the  writer  an  interesting  story  of 
one  of  his  Indian  fights.  He  was  in  Ford's  Regiment  and 
they  had  found  the  foe  in  the  swamp  of  the  Nueces  River. 
A  hot  fight  ensued  and  the  order  was  passed  to  get  ready 
to  retreat.  In  the  regiment  was  a  man  named  Lyons  who 
had  been  captured  when  a  child  by  these  Indians,  and  spoke 
the  language  fluently.  When  the  order  reached  him  to 
retreat  at  the  signal  of  a  bugle  call,  he  said:  "Run  back 
and  tell  the  Colonel  to  hold  on;  I  hear  the  Indians  sending 
out  the  same  order."  Sure  enough,  in  a  few  minutes  the 
Indians  were  in  full  flight,  and  the  whites  scored  a  victory. 

W.  B.  Wrather,  a  Kentuckian  by  birth,  served  in  border 
warfare,  and  later  in  the  Army  of  the  Confederacy,  aiding 
the  cause  with  his  modest  fortune,  accepting  State  war- 
rants for  gold,  and  to  the  shame  of  our  great  State,  those 
warrants  were  never  redeemed. 

Of  other  Southern  sympathizers,  or  soldiers,  were  the 
Dunns,  the  Mussetts,  the  Colon  family,  J.  B.  Murphy,  M. 
Woessner,  Alexander  Dove,  a 'native  of  old  Scotia,  who, 
like  Wrather,  advanced  gold  to  his  adopted  State  and  re- 
ceived worthless  paper  in  payment.  The  brothers,  D.  and 


98  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

J.  Murphy,  made  a  new  start  in  our  town,  both  afterward 
moving  to  Laredo. 

Captain  P.  R.  Mitchell  is  at  present  an  inmate  of  the 
Confederate  Home  at  Austin.  The  Captain  first  learned 
the  art  of  war  in  a  mixup  with  the  Kansas  Jayhawkers. 
Losing  out,  he  came  to  Texas.  Two  of  his  former  brother 
officers  also  fled  to  Texas,  but  were  assassinated  shortly 
after  reaching  what  was  supposed  to  be  safety.  The  Captain 
profited  by  events,  and  sought  seclusion  on  Mustang  Island. 
Later  he  joined  the  regiment  of  Colonel  Hobby's  Eighth 
Texas  Infantry.  At  one  time  Mitchell  was  in  command  of 
a  company  stationed  at  Corpus  Pass.  One  day  two  blockade 
runners  were  chased  into  the  bay  by  the  U.  S.  steamer 
Iroquois.  The  vessels  anchored  inside  the  bay,  and  the 
crew  and  wife  of  one  of  the  Captains  sought  safety  in  the 
sand  hills.  The  Iroquois  sent  out  a  landing  party  in 
launches.  They  were  discouraged  by  a  fusilade  from  the 
Captain's  artillery,  one  old  four-pounder  with  the  Captain 
as  gunner,  and  by  a  scattering  fire  from  rifles  and  muskets 
in  the  hands  of  the  poorly  equipped  infantrymen,  and  more 
soul-harrowing  than  all,  the  Rebel  yell.  The  launches  re- 
treated and  the  ship  opened  fire  on  the  camp.  One  shot 
passed  through  the  sail  of  one  of  the  blockade  runners. 
The  Captain's  wife  begged  to  go,  and,  despite  advice  of 
Captain  Mitchell,  who  felt  able  to  protect  them,  they  boarded 
vessels  and  tried  to  escape  down  Laguna  Madre.  They 
ran  aground  a  few  miles  down  Padre  Island.  The  Iroquois 
had  kept  pace  down  the  island  on  the  outside.  Seeing  the 
plight  of  the  blockade  runner  they  landed  a  force  who 
rushed  across  the  sands  and  set. fire  to  the  vessel. 

Rebel  Sergeant  McRae  had  also  crossed  from  Mustang 
to  Padre  to  the  rescue,  but  the  shipload  of  precious  cotton 
was  burned  and  the  enemy  back  on  board  before  he  ar- 
rived. Late  that  night  the  crews  got  back  to  camp,  hav- 
ing escaped  in  small  boats,  but  the  Captain  believes  to  this 
day  that  he  could  have  saved  the  cargo  if  the  vessels  had 
stayed  under  his  one  gun.  Mitchell  returned  to  Corpus 
Christi  later  as  a  Captain  of  the  Provost  Guard.  He  had 
obeyed  an  order  of  his  superior  officer,  and  had  spilled  a 
lot  of  illicit  whiskey.  After  the  close  of  the  War  the  owner 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  99 


of  same  preferred  charges  against  him.  A  detachment  of 
five  negroes  were  sent  out  to  his  home  on  Popelate  to 
arrest  him.  A  whitewashed  Reb  commanded  the  party. 
The  officer  riding  ahead  of  his  smelly  escort  met  Mitchell 
face  to  face  in  the  road.  "I  have  a  warrant  for  your  ar- 
rest," said  he,  "which  means  the  Military  Prison  for  you. 
Not  one  of  these  nigs  knows  you.  .  Just  ride  on  and  I  will 
go  out  and  search  your  premises."  Mitchell  rode  on  and 
did  not  return  home  until  late  at  night,  when  he  learned 
that  the  negro  troops  had  searched  every  spot  on  the  farm 
for  him. 

To  the  late  Captain  H.  R.  Sutherland,  also  a  Con- 
federate veteran ;  P.  F.  Dunn,  our  member  of  the  Legisla- 
ture; E.  T.  Merriman,  J.  F.  Scott  of  Alice,  Dan  Reid  and 
other  leading  Democrats  of  the  country,  we  owe  a  debt  of 
gratitude,  these  gentlemen  having,  by  much  hard  work, 
carried  our  county  for  the  best  Congressman  ever  sent 
out  from  our  section,  Hon.  John  N.  Garner,  a  Congress- 
man who  has  kept  his  promise  to  his  people.  To  the  in- 
fluence of  these  men  we  owe  the  opening  of  Turtle  Cove 
and  work  on  our  harbor.  At  a  banquet  given  Mr.  Garner 
after  his  election,  he  asked  his  faithful  adherents  to  name 
his  first  work.  He  wanted  them  to  name  the  thing  they 
wanted,  the  thing  nearest  their  hearts.  Mr.  Sutherland 
arose  and  asked  the  appropriation  for  digging  the  channel. 
Mr.  Garner  promised.  How  faithfully  he  kept  his  word 
we  all  know.  But  so  indifferent  were  the  people  generally 
about  this  great  project  that  only  one  man,  E.  T.  Merri- 
man, went  over  to  see  the  work  started,  and  only  one  man 
raised  a  flag  pole  over  his  place  of  business  when  the  work 
was  completed. 

Mr.  Merriman,  as  manager  of  our  best  and  largest 
paper,  The  Caller,  has  known  but  one  love,  his  native  city. 
He  was  the  power  behind  the  throne  that  made  a  success 
of  the  Woman's  Cemetery  Association.  Again,  he  was  one 
of  three  men  who  encouraged  the  ladies  to  build  the  much 
needed  pavilion,  Mr.  Sutherland  and  Mr.  Leary,  manager 
of  the  E.  D.  Sidbury  Lumber  Yard,  being  the  other  two 
men  who  expressed  their  faith  in  the  women. 

When  Mayor  Lovenskiold  felt  that  our  city  was  not 


100  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

able  to  keep  up  the  street  lights,  Eli  T.  Merriman  went  out 
.to  the  citizens  and  raised  a  subscription  to  keep,  and  did 
keep,  the  streets  lighted  for  two  years,  when  the  city  again 
assumed  the  expense.  He  tacked  posters  on  our  first  car- 
loads of  vegetables,  thus  advertising  Corpus  Christi  through- 
out the  State,  doing  the  work  with  his  own  hands,  assisted 
by  his  then  little  son. 

Again  he  advertised  Corpus  Christi  by  sending  a  car- 
load of  sea  shells  to  Fort  Worth  to  erect  a  shell  tower, 
Mrs.  Sidbury  and  a  few  other  good  women  sharing  the 
expense  with  him.  He  did  the  lion's  share  in  raising  the 
bonus  to  get  the  Brownsville  road  to  enter  the  city,  raising 
the  last  thousand  dollars  on  the  last  few  days  of  grace.  In 
the  years  to  come  we  may  rear  distinguished  sons  in  the 
old  town,  but  never  one  to  give  more,  or  as  much,  as  did 
Eli  T.  Merriman,  now  a  retired  newspaper  man.  He  gave 
so  freely  that  the  people  forgot  to  show  or  even  feel  grati- 
tude. 

Of  other  firms  of  reconstruction  days,  we  remember 
that  of  Gullet  Dry  Goods.  John  Bernard,  a  popular  citizen 
of  today,  was  a  stepson  of  Mr.  Gullet,  and  a  clerk  in  this 
store. 

Bloomenthal  &  Jordt  Dry  Goods  Company,  John 
Jordt  afterward  going  into  the  furniture  business  and  build- 
ing up  the  business  of  which  he  is  the  senior  member  to- 
day, a  business  of  such  magnitude  as  to  rank  equal  to 
anything  of  its  kind  in  the  State. 

E.  Morris  also  carried  on  a  large  dry  goods  business, 
with  every  prospect  of  becoming  a  leading  house  in  this  line. 
Unfortunately  the  ill  health  and  later  death  of  Mr.  Morris 
closed  his  well  known  place. 

John  'Woessner  was  also  a  merchant  of  this  period, 
as  were  P.  Hoffman,  N.  Gusset,  Wm.  Headen,  afterward 
Headen  &  Mallory,  and  R.  Simpson,  those  latter  named 
gentlemen  dealing  in  both  dry  goods  and  groceries,  or 
groceries  alone.  The  Dreyer  brothers,  Max  and  Otto,  had 
an  excellent  show  of  toys,  candies,  tobacco  and  soft  drinks, 
and  ice  cream  occasionally,  as  this  popular  delicacy  could 
not  be  served  regularly  unless  we  had  our  ice  house  at 
home,  the  weekly  supply  by  steamer  not  being  a  certainty. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  101 

Captain  Andrew  Anderson  had  a  mill  on  Water  Street 
where  fresh  cornmeal  was  ground  weekly.  The  Captain 
also  put  up  a  good  grade  of  salt.  A  windmill  furnished  the 
power.  Occasionally  the  steamer  brought  a  few  crates  of 
cabbage,  or  barrels  of  apples,  otherwise  the  stock  of  the 
early  merchants  was  strictly  staple. 

Of  other  business  men  of  more  than  a  quarter  of  a 
century  ago  we  remember  the  kindly  and  benevolent  Julius 
Henry,  a  pioneer  merchant,  as  was  also  C.  Weidenmuiler 
and  a  Mr.  Pollin. 

Of  the  professional  men,  John  H.  McCampbell,  after- 
ward associated  with  the  eminent  jurist,  Robert  Stay  ton, 
and  later  with  the  firm  of  McCampbell  &  Welch.  Mr. 
McCampbell  was  a  Tennesseean  by  birth,  and  a  soldier  in 
his  youth,  having  served  as  a  volunteer  in  the  war  with 
Mexico.  Also  associated  with  him  in  business  were  his 
two  sons,  whom  he  survived,  being  the  last  member  of  the 
old  and  prosperous  firm  to  answer  the  final  roll  call.  J. 
H.  McCampbell  was  of  the  old  school,  and  a  citizen  who 
left  this  city  better  by  having  been  a  dweller  therein. 

Of  the  early  lawyers  we  also  recall  the  names  of  J.  S. 
Givens,  P.  A.  Doherty  and  C.  Lovenskiold.  Spohn,  Burke 
and  Hamilton  were  leading  physicians.  Dr.  Lawrence  was 
also  a  beloved  doctor  in  the  old  days  as  were  Drs.  Merri- 
man  and  Robertson. 


102  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

Other  Pioneer  Residents. 

Of  other  early  people,  we  look  back  over  the  many 
years  and  recall  the  names  of  E.  H.  Wheeler,  shoe  dealer, 
also  agent  for  the  American  Sewing  Machine.  Mr.  Wheeler 
was  one  of  the  invading  army  who  elected  to  remain  with 
us.  Others  included  W.  H.  Daimwood,  gent's  furnishings ; 
A.  Meuly,  grocer  and  baker;  H.  Meuly,  for  a  long  time 
the  only  news  dealer  in  the  city,  sometimes  receiving  his 
stock  of  daily  papers  in  lots  of  a  dozen  or  more ;  James 
Henderson,  who  founded  the  "Crony,"  and  one  of  the  bright- 
est of  newspaper  writers.  Mr.  Henderson  was  drowned 
while  bathing  at  Central  Wharf,  one  of  the  few  accidents  of 
the  kind  which  have  occurred  on  our  bay,  another  acci- 
dent of  this  nature  being  the  death  of  Mr.  Alex  Hoffman, 
near  the  reef.  He  fell  from  a  boat,  but  being  a  noted 
swimmer,  his  comrades  laughed  at  his  fall,  and  did  not 
think  of  danger  until  they  saw  him  sink  helpless  beneath 
the  water.  The  whole  town  mourned  both  of  those  promis- 
ing young  men. 

Of  other  families  of  this  time,  we  remember  the  names 
of  some  who  are  still  leading  names  in  our  city.  Mr.  Charles 
Weil,  whose  sons  are  all  in  business,  either  with  their  father 
in  the  ranch  business  or  in  ventures  of  their  own,  the 
grocery  business  of  Weil  Brothers  being  an  up-to-date 
establishment  which  would  surprise  the  pioneer  merchant 
if  he  could  look  in  on  the  old  town,  both  as  to  size  and 
equipment.  Mr.  Gunst,  who  conducts  a  book  and  station- 
ery store;  Charles  Hyman's  family,  the  Littig  family,  Mrs. 
Holbein  and  sons,  the  Hobbs  and  Killmers,  since  removed 
to  Alice.  The  noted  dry  goods  house  of  Gugenheim  & 
Cohn  of  today  is  a  monument  to  the  energy  of  these  two 
former  young  men  who  sought  employment  in  our  little 
city  a  quarter  of  a  century  since,  Mr.  Gugenheim  being  a 
clerk  with  E.  Morris.  They  opened  a  dry  goods  store  of 
moderate  size,  and  gradually  built  to  present  grand  dimen- 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  103 

sions.  These  gentlemen  have  done  great  work  for  their 
adopted  city,  builded  better  than  they  knew.  In  days  fol- 
lowing the  Ropes  boom,  when  real  estate  was  almost  a  drug 
on  the  market,  they  purchased  largely,  thereby  showing 
their  confidence  in  the  future,  and  bolstering  up  confidence 
of  others  in  those  gloomy  days. 

Of  other  noted  families  who.  settled  near  Corpus 
Christi  and  helped  to  build  the  city  was  that  of  Richard 
Gallagher,  who  opened  a  ranch  on  the  Oso  (Bear)  Creek. 
Mr.  Gallagher  was  from  the  Emerald  Isle,  and  he  and  his 
good  wife  lived  the  life  of  pioneers  proper.  They  are  kind- 
ly remembered  by  all  the  old  settlers. 

Mr.  N.  Bluntzer,  founder  of  the  little  town  of  that 
name,  on  the  Nueces  River,  was  of  German  birth,  and  true 
to  the  reputation  of  his  countrymen,  was  a  man  who  builded 
and  improved,  an  experimenter  who  tried  the  virgin  soil 
and  demonstrated  its  wealth.  He  never  lost  faith  in  Corpus 
Christi  and  in  his  latter  years  proved  his  faith  by  invest- 
ing in  real  estate.  The  Bluntzer  family  are  of  our  solid 
citizenry  of  today. 


104  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

The  Life  of  Colonel  Kinney. 

Colonel  Kinney  was  killed  in  Matamoros  in  1865.  The 
shot  which  ended  the  life  of  this  great  man  was  a  stray 
ball.  A  skirmish  was  in  progress  between  two  factions  of 
Mexicans.  A  friend  of  Colonel  Kinney's,  in  a  nearby  house, 
called  to  him  to  come  to  his  place  as  being  safer  than  the 
place  Kinney  then  occupied.  He  started  across  the  yard 
and  reached  the  door  of  his  friend  when  he  received  the 
ball  in  the  heart,  dying  instantly. 

He  had  been  practically  under  fire  for  years.  A  story 
is  told  of  him  and  a  few  settlers  going  out  to  meet  a  band 
of  marauding  Indians,  who  had  grown  so  bold  that  they 
visited  the  pond  in  the  arroyo  to  water  their  horses.  The 
Colonel  and  his  friends  found  the  red  men  out  about  where 
the  standpipe  now  is.  The  party  began  to  circle  the  whites, 
who  hastily  fired  to  a  man,  only  to  see  the  red  men  catch 
the  load  on  their  buffalo  head  shields,  and,  raising  the  war 
whoop,  they  charged  the  settlers  who  now  had  empty  guns. 
A  grand  Gilpin  race  was  organized  right  there  without  any 
preliminaries.  Over  the  bluff  came  the  white  men,  to  the 
brow  came  the  foe,  but  for  some  strange  reason  they  did 
not  follow  up  victory,  but  turned  and  fled  back  to  cover. 

Colonel  Kinney  had  been  on  a  filibustering  trip  to 
South  America  and  from  this  grew  much  misery,  as  shortly 
after  his  death  a  claim,  known  as  the  Jones  claim,  was 
placed  against  his  estate.  To  give  justice  to  all  parties,  the 
people  were  offered  a  fair  settlement,  but  having  paid  for 
their  property,  they  refused  the  terms.  Later  a  U.  S. 
Marshal  and  detachment  of  troops  dispossessed  many  of 
the  people,  and  for  years  the  trouble  \vas  on.  As  the  wrriter 
understood  the  case,  the  claimant,  Levi  Jones,  had  advanced 
money  for  the  expedition,  taking  a  mortgage  on  Kinney's 
land.  Kinney  later  sold  out  lots  to  settlers  and  they  knew 
nothing  of  the  mortgage  until  the  claim  was  filed. 

In  the  late  seventies  the  writer  saw  some  hard  cases 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  105 

of  evictions,  which  must  have  reminded  our  Irish  friends 
of  the  old  sod,  under  British  rule.  One  woman  went  to 
market  one  morning,  and  on  her  returning  home  found  her 
children  and  belongings  in  the  street.  She  was  never  again 
to  enter  the  -little  home  which  she  had  mostly  built  with  her 
own  hands,  even  wading  out  into  the  bay  to  gather  shell 
to  make  lime  for  its  walls.  But  the  worst  sufferers  were 
the  orphans,  of  whom  there  were  many,  as  the  result  of  the 
last  yellow  fever  epidemic,  they  having  no  one  to  fight  their 
claims  or  find  the  money  to  pay  them.  But  it  is  all  settled 
now,  and  if  you  asked  the  business  man  of  today  about 
the  Jones  claim,  he  would  likely  ask  who  Jones  was,  or 
what  about  him,  though  many  sore  hearts  studied  the  ques- 
tion in  the  old  days. 

But  we  began  to  chirk  up,  the  agents  began  to  visit 
our  quarter  of  Texas,  the  parlor-organ  -man  got  in,  we 
bought  largely,  we  had  the  change  in  those  days,  and  soon 
the  silence  of  eventide  was  rent  to  tatters  by  its  wailing. 
Next  came  the  piano  man,  and  again  we  invested.  The 
price  of  many  a  good  Texas  steer,  horns,  hoofs  and  hide, 
went  to  cater  to  the  musical  taste  of  our  populace.  The 
next  fad  was  a  light  phaeton  or  buggy.  We  enjoyed  them 
immensely,  as  a  gentle  pony  could  be  had  for  any  price 
ranging  from  $5.00  to  $20.00. 

The  Ropes  boom  brought  the  electric  lights  and  street 
cars.  True  the  cars  were  motored  by  various  methods, 
from  an  engine  which  threw  soot  and  water  all  over  the 
passengers,  to  a  perfectly  harmless  mule.  Though  what- 
ever the  power,  the  patrons  usually  walked  back.  It  was 
never  a  success,  and  fifteen  years  elapsed  before  we  had  a 
street  railway,  the  old  one  being  torn  up  and  moved  on 
to  some  other  boom  town.  We  fell  back  on  the  original, 
and  boated  and  picnicked.  Who  of  the  old  guard  does  not 
remember  the  two  Anderson  boats,  and  the  Anderson  broth- 
ers, their  Captains?  What  gay  times  we  had  on  the  old 
"Flour  Bluff"  or  the  "Two  Brothers."  True,  they  were 
sailboats,  and  slow  compared  with  the  motor  boat  of  today, 
but  the  time  passed  so  pleasantly  that  we  were  willing  to 
travel  at  a  leisurely  gait. 


106  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


CHAPTER  XXIV. 

Haverty  vs.  McClane. 

In  looking  over  the  files  of  old  papers,  we  find  a  most 
remarkable  case  which  we  give  as  a  sample  of  justice  of 
reconstruction  days,  interesting  from  the  number  of  peo- 
ple mentioned,  ranging  from  the  humblest  officers  of  this 
(Nueces)  County,  to  those  of  Judicial  District  1-4,  to  Gov- 
ernor, landsmen,  sailors,  soldiers,  U.  S.  officers,  from 
Captain  to  Brigadier  up  the  line  to  the  apex,  President 
U.  S.  Grant.  While  the  proceedings  cover  pages  and  pages 
of  foolscap,  and  the  New  Orleans  Picayune,  of  May  30, 
1869,  gives  four  pages  to  correspondence  on  the  case,  and 
the  Chicago  Tribune  and  other  papers  of  the  day  gave 
considerable  space  to  various  dates,  we  will  give  the  pro- 
ceedings of  various  courts  as  briefly  as  possible,  and  write, 
or  rather  copy,  from  the  New  Orleans  papers  as  a  curiosity. 

First,  we  find  that  under  date  of  August  19,  1865,  at 
office  of  Post  Quartermaster  Corpus  Christi,  Texas,  re- 
ceived of  Lieutenant  J.  W.  Barnett,  A.  A.  Q.  Master,  U.  S. 
Army,  on  board  the  U.  S.  schooner  Lilly,  following  pack- 
ages of  sixty-one  bales  of  wool,  averaging  369  pounds  to 
the  bale,  420  averaging  79  pounds  each,  40  pounds  old  cop- 
per, one  barrel  tobacco.  This  shipment  is  made  by  order 
of  Brigadier  General  Rupell,  with  permission  for  owner 
or  consignee  to  accompany  same.  G.  W.  Barrett,  Lieu- 
tenant Fifteenth  Regiment,  U.  S.  C.  Infantry.  Post -Quarter 
Master.  Consigned  to  D.  Haverty,  New  Orleans.  I  have 
affirmed  this  bill  of  lading.  B.  W.  Gravitt,  Master  U.  S. 
sloop  Lilly. 

Corpus  Christi,  Texas,  October  28,   1865. 

Received  from  W.  B.  W  rather  eighty  bales  of  wool 
belonging  to  John  McClane,  weighing  in  the  aggregate 
52,685  pounds.  (Signed)  Haverty  &  Hill. 

Thus  begins  the  famous  suit.  Haverty,  who  was  a 
sutler  in  a  negro  regiment,  can  get  transportation  on  a 
Government  vessel  which  he  does  for  Mr.  McClane's  four 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  107 

years'  clip  of  wool,  which  he  purchases  for  20  cents  per 
pound,  but  fails  to  make  returns.  He,  Haverty,  goes  to 
Chicago,  w^here  in  the  latter  days  of  '67  he  takes  benefit 
of  the  bankrupt  act. 

McClane-,  a  rigidly  honest  man,  is  appointed  Sheriff 
of  Nueces  County.  Getting  requisition  papers  from  Gov- 
ernor Pease  of  Texas,  and  acting  under  advice  of  his  at- 
torney, the  afterward  notorious  E.  J.  Davis,  he,  with  the 
Texas  agent,  A.  McLaughlin,  goes  to  Chicago  in  January, 
1868.  Getting  a  couple  of  Pinkerton  detectives  there  to  aid 
them,  they  arrest  Haverty,  rush  him  to  the  depot  and  en- 
train for  Texas.  McClane  does  not  figure  in  the  arrest, 
but  meets  them  at  the  depot  in  Chicago,  wearing,  as  Haverty 
afterward  testified,  a  Bowie  knife  in  his  belt,  and  carrying 
a  six-shooter  in  his  hand. 

They  brought  the  prisoner  back  to  Corpus  Christi,  and 
on  January  20  placed  him  in  Nueces  County  jail  under 
commitment  signed  by  John  Dix,  County  Judge,  and  also 
bureau  agent.  He  offers  bond,  not  considered  good  by 
Judge  Scott  of  the  Fourteenth  District,  is  held,  according 
to  his  later  testimony,  in  an  iron  cage  nine  feet  square, 
and  much  is  said  of  this  terrible  cage,  though  we  believe 
that  every  jail  in  Texas  is  equipped  with  them  today.  Judge 
Scott  was  not  a  citizen  of  the  Fourteenth  District,  and  was 
finally  removed,  though  General  J.  J.  Reynolds,  then  com- 
manding this  military  district,  acting  at  instigation  of  Pease 
and  E.  J.  Davis,  endeavored  to  retain  him. 

The  New  Orleans  Picayune,  of  May,  1868,  speaks  of 
E.  J.  Davis  as  that  malevolent  spirit  who  has  been  a  stirrer 
of  strife  on  the  border  for  the  past  fifteen  years.  But  the 
Carpetbagger  Scott  was  removed.  Lieutenant  Colonel  Wil- 
son, U.  S.  A.,  was  sent  by  General  Hancock  to  Corpus 
Christi  to  look  into  the  case.  He  reports  that  he  had  irons 
taken  off  the  prisoner.  He  reports  on  the  iron  cage  again. 
The  case  is  getting  to  be  celebrated  by  now,  and  General 
McCook,  acting  under  orders  of  General  Buchannan,  and 
General  Buchannan  acting  under  orders  of  General  Grant, 
removes  Scott  and  appoints  Judge  Carpenter.  Appointment 
by  McCook  affirmed  by  Buchannan,  but  General  Hancock 
is  ordered  to  Washington,  and  Reynolds,  being  in  command, 


108  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

sustains  action  of  Governor  Pease  and  Attorney  Davis. 
Five  months  pass  before  Haverty  finally  gets  a  hearing. 
At  this  trial  Pryor  Lea,  of  Goliad,  appears.  The  New  Or- 
leans paper  says,  he  (Lea)  formerly  of  Mississippi,  is  a 
man  whose  personal  and  professional  character  lifts  him 
far  above  the  plane  occupied  by  Davis. 

In  June,  1868,  a  military  board  convened  in  Corpus 
Christi,  presided  over  by  Brigadier  General  A.  D.  McCook. 
Mr.  McClane  asks,  by  letter  sent  to  John  Dix  to  General 
McCook,  for  certified  copy  of  Haverty's  testimony.  An 
answer  dated  following  day,  at  King's  Ranch,  curtly  re- 
fuses request  by  order  of  General  commanding  signed  G. 
H.  Lincoln,  First  Lieutenant  Twenty-Sixth  Infantry,  Act- 
ing Assistant  Adjutant  General.  Next  a  military  order  de- 
clares the  office  of  Sheriff  of  Nueces  County  vacant  (July, 
'68),  and  an  order  to  that  effect  is  served  from  Judge  J. 
B.  Carpenter,  by  Captain  Green,  and  the  Sheriff  is  notified 
that  any  resistance  to  the  order  will  be  looked  upon  in 
military  circles  as  contrary  to  military  law,  and  get  the 
Sheriff  into  trouble,  for  military  law  is  paramount  in  those 
days  in  Texas.  A  military  commission  is  ordered  to  con- 
vene in  Brownsville  on  August  6,  '68,  and  we  suppose  that 
as  Mr.  Haverty  was  a  military  man,  sutler  in  a  negro  regi- 
ment, he  was  whitewashed.  Anyway  he  got  out  of  the 
little  iron  cage  and  returned  to  Chicago. 

In  September  of  '68,  our  ex-Sheriff,  seeing  the  utter 
futility  of  engaging  in  a  controversy  with  the  United  States 
Army  on  the  Texas  border,  realizing  that  though  he  was 
a  native  of  Pennsylvania,  and  a  Union  man,  that  he  could 
expect  no  favors  from  the  powers  in  command,  went  to 
Chicago  to  dispute  the  case  of  Haverty  in  bankruptcy.  Now 
Haverty  comes  in  for  his  inning.  He  files  an  affidavit 
against  McClane  for  kidnaping  him,  and  for  eight  months 
he  is  held  in  the  Cook  County  jail,  only  securing  his  re- 
lease by  acting  upon  the  advice  of  his  lawyers  and  agree- 
ing to  drop  all  claims  against  Haverty.  He  came  back 
to  Corpus  Christi,  was  elected,  or  appointed,  Sheriff  again, 
when  he  was  defeated  by  Thomas  Beynon,  late  of  the  Con- 
federate States  Army.  Mr.  McClane  was  a  scrupulously 
honest  man.  A  funny  story  is  told  of  him  by  his  friend, 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  109 

Pat  Whelan,  Esq.  It  seems  that  during  his  occupancy  of 
Sheriff's  office,  an  order  was  issued  creating  the  office  of 
Assessor,  formerly  held  by  the  Sheriff. 

On  examination  by  committee  of  the  books,  McClane 
was  found  to  he  short  in  accounts  $13,000.  The  shock  of 
this  disclosure  sent  McClane  to  bed  sick.  Mr.  Whelan 
called  to  see  him  and  offered  his  services.  He  was  asked 
to  carry  a  letter  to  Captain  King,  at  Santa  Gertrudis,  who 
was  on  Sheriff's  bond.  He  did  so,  and  presenting  his  let- 
ter and  news,  Captain  King  laughed,  saying:  "Is  he  sick 
over  it ;  he  must  have  a  poor  opinion  of  his  bondsmen.  Tell 
him  to  go  to  work  and  I  will  come  in  and  fix  it  up  in  a 
few  days.  I  know  he  never  misused  a  cent  of  the  County's 
money."  A  few  days  later  the  Captain  did  come  in.  and, 
hiring  an  expert  accountant,  the  late  Charles  Lege.  had  the 
books  examined  and  found  them  correct  to  a  penny.  Mr. 
McClane  lived  to  an  old  age,  dying  from  a  paralytic  stroke 
in  March,  1911. 

Captain  Beynon,  after  several  terms,  resigned  as 
Sheriff  and  Pat  Whelan,  former  City  Marshal,  filled  the 
office  for  nine  terms.  The  country  was  passing  from  the 
lawlessness  of  reconstruction  days  to  modern  methods  dur- 
ing his  first  terms.  Pat  Whelan  had  many  hard  proposi- 
tions to  confront.  Indian  and  Mexican  raids,  frequent  visits 
of  bad  men  traveling  toward  the  border,  avowed  political 
enemies  who  made  many  threats,  and  a  succession  of  elab- 
orate bluffs.  But  he  holds  the  unique  record  of  having  en- 
forced the  law  to  the  letter,  of  having  got  his  man  when  he 
went  after  him,  landing  him  safe  in  jail,  many  times  single- 
handed,  and  in  that  long  and  strenuous  time  he  never  killed 
or  maimed  his  man.  A  wonderful  record  for  the  time  and 
place.  Mr.  Whelan  at  the  present  time  is  Justice  of  the 
Peace  of  Precinct  Number  One,  being  City  Precinct,  an 
office  of  considerable  importance,  a  courtly  old  gentleman 
of  a  class  which  is  rapidly  passing.  He,  with  his  brothers, 
prosperous  farmers  west  of  the  city,  came  to  this  County 
about  1866,  and  have  been  identified  with  its  every  progress 
since  that  date. 

In  closing  this  little  effort  at  authorship,  we  come 
forcibly  to  the  present  day.  With  all  our  advantages  of 


110  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

free  schools,  telegraphic  and  telephone  communication  and 
twentieth  century  civilization,  we  have  discounted  our 
fathers  and  forefathers  in  politics,  and  reached  a  state  of 
civic  disorganization  which  would  cause  the  Carpetbagger, 
Freedmen's  Bureau,  Ku  Klux  Klan,  Union  Leaguer,  Scala- 
wag, or  any  other  old-fashioned  politician  to  go  to  the  ex- 
treme rear  end  of  things  and  sit  down  hard. 

Our  first  Mayor  under  commission  form  of  govern- 
ment was  Hon.  Dan  Reid,  who  died  in  December  follow- 
ing. An  election  was  ordered  for  unexpired  term.  H.  R. 
Sutherland,  a  Commissioner  and  a  native,  offered  as  can- 
didate, as  did  Clark  Pease,  the  lately  defeated  candidate  for 
office.  Later  Mr.  Sutherland  withdrew  and  Mr.  Pease  got 
the  office.  At  the  end  of  his  term,  April,  1911,  Mr.  Pease 
was  opposed  by  Mr.  Sutherland  as  leader  of  the  People's 
Ticket.  The  election  was  an  exciting  affair,  and  Mr.  Pease 
claimed  and  got  the  office,  though  contested  by  Mr.  Suther- 
land. The  case  being  decided  against  Mr.  Sutherland  in 
the  District  Court,  was  reversed  by  Court  of  Appeals,  again 
tried  in  the  District  Court  before  Judge  W.  B.  Hopkins, 
and  Mr.  Sutherland  declared  elected.  Again  appealed  by 
Mr.  Pease  and  the  decision  for  Mr.  Sutherland  again  af- 
firmed. While  there  was  much  feeling  in  the  matter,  and 
the  feeling  is  still  with  us  we  congratulate  our  people  on 
the  fact  that  no  lawlessness  grew  out  of  the  case.  We  are 
as  ever  a  law  abiding  people  and  willing  to  await  decision 
of  court.  Though  our  sister  cities  of  San  Diego  and 
Brownsville  have  had  serious  trouble  over  city  elections,  in 
which  six-shooter  played  deadly  tunes,  also  San  Antonio 
has  had  her  troubles,  but  we  have  stuck  to  our  time-hon- 
ored custom  of  abiding  by  Texas  law. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  111 


CHAPTER  XXV. 

Civil  War  Battles  at  Corpus  Christi. 

From  an  old  paper,  told  by  eyewitness,  there  were  two 
engagements  between  the  North  and  South  on  Corpus 
Beach  during  the  Civil  War.  On  August  7,  1862,  Captain 
Kitteridge  sent  a  small  party  ashore  to  demand  surrender 
of  the  city,  giving  sixteen  hours  in  which  to  remove  non- 
combatants.  The  famous  Twin  Sisters  cannon,  which  had 
figured  at  San  Jacinto  in  1836,  were  mounted  on  the  bluff, 
near  the  site  occupied  by  the  colored  Congregational  Church. 
Captain  Billy  Mann,  in  command  of  guns,  took  advantage 
of  the  sixteen  hours  to  move  and  mask  his  guns  at  about 
the  foot  of  Hughes  Street.  At  the  expiration  of  the  time 
named,  the  fleet  opened  fire  on  the  city,  August  7,  1863. 
Captain  Mann  returned  the  fire  from  his  Twin  Sisters, 
sending  a  shot  through  the  Commander's  ship  at  the  water 
line,  forcing  the  enemy  to  withdraw  to  Mustang  Island  for 
repairs.  After  ten  days'  absence  the  enemy  again  ap- 
proached the  city,  August  17.  Kitteridge's  flag  ship  was 
a  steam  gunboat.  He  also  had  three  large  schooners  and 
a  sloop  loaded  with  a  large  force,  well-armed  and  equipped 
for  a  determined  attack.  The  Rebel  force  numbered  one 
hundred  and  twenty  men,  but  they  stood  them  off  until 
dark,  though  this  small  force  was  poorly  armed  and  equip- 
ped, one  small  detachment  of  cavalry  and  small  force  of 
artillery,  aided  by  a  few  infantrymen. 

The  Yankees  landed  near  the  old  Moore  House,  yet 
standing,  the  Rebs  resorting  to  rifles  when  the  enemy  got 
in  range,  but  at  dark  retired  to  the  ravine  (now  Arroyo) 
back  of  the  bluff,  where  their  devoted  friends  slipped 
through  the  darkness  to  carry  food  and  water  to  them. 
Being  August,  water  was  only  to  be  had  from  cisterns,  or 
seep  wells  on  the  beach.  This  was  risky  for  the  Rebel 
sympathizers  as  there  was  estimated  ten  Unionists  to  one 
Reb  in  the  city,  and  down  to  the  darkness  of  the  grave 


112  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

many  of  the  people  of  that  time  carried  the  hate  born  of 
that  day.  The  Yankees  held  the  beach  part  of  the  city 
from  this  time,  came  and  went  at  will,  but  the  Rebs  held 
the  camp  in  Ravine  and  adjacent  country,  coming  to  the 
brow  of  the  bluff  and  "smoking  'em  up"  occasionally  when 
ammunition  was  plentiful,  finally  capturing  the  doughty 
Kitteridge  and  exhibiting  him  on  the  streets  of  Corpus 
Christi.  Yankees  were  off  the  streets  that  day.  It  is  sup- 
posed he  went  to  prison,  as  he  disappears  from  this  date. 
As  the  Yankee  fleet  approached  the  city  for  the  second  at- 
tack, Captain  Jack  Sands'  boat,  loaded  with  stores,  also  ap- 
proached. A  lively  race  ensued,  but  Jack  beached  his  boat 
in  front  of  Confederate  position,  fired  her  and  fled.  This 
was  a  serious  loss,  as  the  Confederates  were  in  dire  need. 
The  Confederate  forces  at  this  date  were  under  command 
of  Colonel  Hobby,  infantry  commanded  by  then  Captain, 
afterwards  Colonel  John  Ireland,  later  Governor  of  Texas; 
artillery  Captain  Neal ;  cavalry  by  Captain  James  Ware. 
He  captured  Kitteridge  and  did  scout  duty  in  vicinity  dur- 
ing the  entire  War.  Captain  Ware  died  in  the  Soldiers' 
Home  in  Austin  a  few  years  since.  Lieutenant  Conklin,  a 
gallant  young  officer,  mentioned  in  Confederate  Military 
History,  was  in  Ware's  company,  and  led  a  charge  of 
cavalry  against  landing  force,  the  fleet  wrorking  in  the  beach 
and  protecting  landing  force  by  its  guns  made  the  evacua- 
tion of  Confederates  necessary.  He  also  made  the  beach 
part  of  the  city  safe  to  the  enemy,  while  the  force  in  the 
arroyo  held  in  check  their  tastes  for  foraging  on  surround- 
ing ranches.. 

Noted  among  the  defenders  of  the  wild  borders  of 
that  day  was  Captain  John  Rabb,  who  commanded  a  com- 
pany of  cavalry,  and  lived  in  the  field.  Captain  Rabb's 
home  at  that  time  was  in  Banquete,  and  his  family  were 
exposed  to  all  the  hardships  of  the  frontier.  In  this  com- 
pany served  Private  John  Fitch,  who  was  with  others  of 
this  command  honorably  discharged  from  the  Confederate 
Army  by  company  officers  at  the  close  of  the  War.  Also 
living  at  Banquete  at  this  time  was  Si  Elliff  and  family. 
Those  three  men,  Rabb,  Fitch  and  Elliff,  went  into  the  cat- 
tle and  sheep  business  and  were  for  years  prominent  men 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  113 

in  this  line,  and  did  much  to  encourage  the  honest  settler 
in  getting  a  start  in  this  new  country,  and  in  upholding  the 
law  and  discouraging  the  presence  of  bad  men  in  this  law- 
abiding  community. 

In  the  latter  days  of  1910  a  Confederate  Camp  was 
organized  in  Corpus  Christi.  The  meeting  was  held  in  the 
office  of  Hugh  R.  Sutherland.  The  camp  was  named  for 
the  late  Captain  H.  R.  Sutherland,  Company  A,  Ninth  Regi- 
ment, Alabama  Volunteers,  Army  of  Northern  Virginia. 

G.  W.  Shannon,  Commander. 

Joseph  Black,  Lieutenant  Commander. 

H.  R.  Sutherland,  Honorary  Member,  Adjutant.     (Son 

of  Captain.) 

H.  G.  Webster,  Chaplain. 
G.  H.  Harvey,  Treasurer. 
J.  W.  Wilkie,  Color  Bearer. 
Mrs.  Shannon,  Honorary  Member. 
Mary  A.   Sutherland,  Widow  of  Captain   Sutherland, 

Honorary  Member  and  Historian. 

CHARTER  MEMBERS. 

Lee  Rogers,  First  Texas  Cavalry ;  J.  G.  Price,  Rattan's 
Company,  Simms'  Battalion;  Charles  Gollihar,  Thirty-third 
Texas  Cavalry;  J.  E.  Welborn,  Company  H,  Fourth  Ten- 
nessee Cavalry;  W.  McGregor,  First  Texas  Regiment; 
Clay  Roberts,  Fifty-fourth  Alabama;  R.  G.  Penn,  Nine- 
teenth Texas  Cavalry ;  J.  N.  Caruther,  Third  Arkansas ;  J. 
H.  Estes,  Company  C,  Thirteenth  Mississippi;  A.  Webster, 
McManus'  Battalion,  Louisiana;  G.  W.  Shannon,  Company 
C,  Eleventh  Mississippi ;  S.  F.  Ray,  Company  G,  Twenty- 
seventh  Infantry;  J.  R.  Wilkie,  Company  H,  Waddell's 
Battalion ;  J.  A.  Black,  Company  B,  Thirty-fifth  Mississippi ; 
R.  B.  Casey,  Company  F,  Lewis'  Regiment,  Mississippi  In- 
fantry; J.  E.  Stephens,  Company  F,  Bushnell's  Texas  Regi- 
ment; G.  H.  Harvey,  Company  F,  Ninth  Alabama;  H. 
Burgoon,  First  Texas ;  James  Field,  First  Texas ;  Ed  Atkin- 
son, Thirty-third  Texas  Cavalry;  P.  Pulliam,  First  Bat- 
talion, Missouri  Infantry ;  Jacob  Miller,  First  Missouri  Cav- 
alry; J.  M.  Bailey,  Company  B,  Sixteenth  Arkansas  In- 


114  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

fantry;  M.  P.  Craig,  Ninth  Kentucky  Cavalry;  W.  A.  Fick- 
lin,  Wells'  Legion;  A.  D.  Floyd,  Company  B,  Gregg's  Ten- 
nessee Regiment;  A.  J.  O'Neal,  Company  C,  Third  Ten- 
nessee Infantry.  Later  the  names  of  Captain  Thomas 
Beynon  and  Captain  J.  B.  Thompson  were  added,  both  gal- 
lant Texas  Cavalrymen  in  their  youth.  The  members  of 
this  camp  are  all  representative  citizens  of  this  community, 
whose  labor  and  integrity  have  built  a  new  South,  and  made 
the  name  of  Southerner  a  proud  distinction  at  home  and 
abroad. 

In  1891  or  1892  a  Confederate  Camp  was  organized 
in  Corpus  Christi,  with  Captain  H.  R.  Sutherland  as  first 
Post  Commander.  Captain  Sutherland,  appointed  Lieuten- 
ant Colonel  too  late  in  the  War  to  get  commission,  Com- 
pany A,  Ninth  Regiment  Alabama  Volunteers,  was  suc- 
ceeded by  Mark  Downey,  of  Hays'  Louisiana  Brigade.  The 
Camp  was  named  Joseph  E.  Johnston.  Many  members  are 
now  removed  or  passed  over  to  rest  under  the  shade  of 
the  trees.  A  committee  of  ladies  erected  a  small  monu- 
ment in  old  Bayview  Cemetery  to  the  memory  of  Con- 
federate dead,  the  first  monument  ever  erected  in  Corpus 
Christi.  It  was  placed  in  1906,  August  6.  Committee,  Mrs. 
Wm.  Biggio,  Mrs.  H.  R.  Sutherland.  Executive  committee, 
Mrs.  W.  B.  Wrather,  Vice  President;  Mrs.  T.  B.  South- 
gate,  Corresponding  Secretary.  June,  1861. 

After  half  a  century,  June,  1911,  the  family  of  Captain 
H.  R.  Sutherland  applied  for  Cross  of  Honor,  given  by  U. 
D.  C.  As  it  was  necessary  to  find  witness  who  knew 
Captain  Sutherland  in  the  Army,  a  letter  was  addressed  to 
Captain  A.  L.  Scott,  formerly  of  the  Ninth  Alabama  Regi- 
ment, later  a  citizen  of  San  Antonio,  and  one  time  Post 
Commander  of  Confederate  Veterans  of  that  city.  The  fol- 
lowing is  testimony  received  in  Captain  Scott's  own  words : 

"Captain  Sutherland's  standing  as  a  gallant  and  de- 
voted soldier  and  officer  was  recognized  as  being  unsur- 
passed by  that  of  anyone  in  the  Regiment.  Captain  Suther- 
land was  in  command  of  the  Regiment  at  Second  Cold 
Harbor  and  Reams  Station.  In  the  thick  of  one  of  those 
battles  (Second  Cold  Harbor  and  Reams  Station)  Captain 
Sutherland  was  giving  some  very  emphatic  orders  on  that 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  115 

part  of  the  line.  The  incident  is  particularly  impressed  on 
my  mind  by  the  display  of  temper  on  his  part  at  something 
that  was  not  being  done  to  suit  him,  and  his  conspicuous 
gallantry  at  a  critical  juncture  of  desperate  battle." 

Captain  Sutherland's  family  remembers  the  story  of 
Reams  Station,  how  the  Captain  led  his  Regiment,  how  with 
every  field  officer  dead  or  in  prison  the  command  came  to 
him,  how  at  his  order  to  advance  only  his  own  Company 
A  obeyed  the  order,  the  Regiment  not  knowing  him  as  Com- 
mander, how  under  a  galling  fire  he  ran  back  and  begged, 
implored,  ordered,  fought  with  the  flat  of  his  sword,  and 
won.  The  old  Ninth,  a  skeleton  regiment,  lived  right  up 
to  its  reputation,  and  under  that  fire  and  on  that  field  Cap- 
tain Sutherland  won  the  undying  respect  of  his  command. 
This  day,  of  all  the  days  of  a  long  life,  was  the  proudest 
of  Captain  Sutherland's  life.  He  possessed  a  powerful 
memory,  and  in  old  age  often  mentioned  every  man  in  his 
company  by  name,  and  where  he  died,  for  all  but  a  cor- 
poral's guard  died  in  battle.  The  Captain  was  desperately 
wounded  at  Salem  Church,  and  again  while  defending 
the  Crater,  after  the  mine  explosion  at  Petersburg.  He  died 
in  Corpus  Christi  July  4,  1906. 


116  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


CHAPTER  XXVI. 

Stories  of  Early  Days. 

After  General  Taylor  left  Corpus  Christi  on  his  way 
to  Mexico,  the  few  inhabitants  had  a  long,  lonely  wait  for 
company.  An  occasional  hunter  or  little  wagon  train  from 
the  interior  was  the  only  break  in  the  monotony.  But  hope 
springs  eternal  in  the  human  breast,  and  the  winter  even- 
ings around  the  mesquite  fire,  or  the  neighborly  meetings 
on  porches  under  the  brilliant  moon,  were  passed  with 
stories  of  the  prosperity  soon  to  come ;  for  Corpus  Christi 
was  ever  loyal.  A  favorite  tale  was  the  conquest  of  South 
and  Central  America.  A  great  depot  of  stores  and  base  of 
supplies  was  to  be  established  here,  at  this  nearest  point 
to  the  land  of  promise.  Here  the  expedition  would  form 
and  make  a  quick  dash  for  this  land  of  gold.  Fabulous 
stories  were  told  of  the  wealth  to  be  garnered  there,  and 
at  this  date  it  seems  strange  that  any  converts  could  be 
found.  But  such  was  the  case,  and  as  shrewd  a  man  as 
Captain  Kinney  undoubtedly  was,  he  was  lured  by  the  tale, 
and  the  story  goes  that  it  was  to  get  money  to  fit  out  an 
expedition  to  Honduras,  that  he  made  the  mortgage  to  Levi 
Jones  which  worked  such  hardship  on  our  people  in  later 
years. 

Apparently  the  citizens  of  that  day  had  not  read  the 
conquest  of  Mexico  by  Cortez,  or  Peru  by  Pizarro,  or  they 
would  have  known  that  there  were  no  gleanings  in  the  wake 
of  the  Spaniard.  The  few  years  intervening  between  Mexi- 
can and  Civil  War  saw  gradual  growth  by  emigration. 
The  first  white  child  was  born  in  Corpus  Christi,  Andrew 
Baldeschwiller,  and  then  came  the  armed  force  again,  not 
to  conquer  territory,  but  to  defend  home  institutions.  No 
great  depot  of  supplies,  or  war  equipment  in  evidence,  a 
small  force  of  determined  men,  armed  with  their  own  guns, 
and  under  a  banner  fashioned  from  women's  silk  dresses, 
the  waters  of  the  bay  and  the  game  on  the  prairies  fur- 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  117 

nishing  the  commissary,  the  fight  for  food  being  more 
strenuous  than  the  skirmishes  with  the  boys  in  blue. 

Some  time  in  the  'SQ'S,  on  the  i7th  of  March,  St.  Pat- 
rick's Day,  the  bay  froze  over  near  the  shore,  and  the  whole 
population  was  treated  to  unlimited  fish,  the  men  going  up 
the  reef  in  carts,  and  picking  up  all  that  they  cared  to  haul 
home,  the  fish  being  torpid  from  the  unusual  cold.  This 
is  the  only  record  we  have  of  a  late  spring,  March  being 
a  spring  month  with  us.  Just  how  cold  it  was  we  are  not 
able  to  say,  as  this  was  before  establishment  of  Weather 
Bureau.  This  reef,  dividing  Corpus  Christi  Bay  from  the 
Bay  of  Nueces,  cut  quite  a  figure  in  the  early  days,  being 
then  about  three  miles  north  of  the  city,  but  now  the  town 
has  gradually  expanded  until  it  has  become  a  suburb. 

The  San  Antonio  and  Aransas  Pass  Railroad  has  a 
bridge  there  now,  three  miles  long.  The  old  wagon  road, 
with  its  many  twists  and  turns,  following  the  apex  of  the 
reef  of  oyster  shells,  making  distance  to  be  traveled  more 
than  twice  that  distance  as  used  many  years.  This  road 
at  one  time  was  our  only  outlet  northward,  and  was  care- 
fully staked  to  mark  the  safe  path,  as  the  road  was  under 
water,  and  if  the  traveler  deviated  from  it,  he  was  sure  to 
get  into  trouble  and  deep  mud  at  one  and  the  same  time, 
with  an  excellent  chance  of  drowning  his  team.  To  pas- 
sengers on  outgoing  or  incoming  trains,  these  road  stakes 
looked  like  a  puzzle,  but  to  the  traveler  of  early  times  they 
were  carefully  studied,  and  learned  to  a  turn.  This  same 
reef  was  a  great  fishing  ground  for  big  fish. 

Here  history  began,  with  landing  of  General  Taylor's 
Army,  here  the  Indian  must  be  looked  out  for  as  he  laid 
in  wait  for  the  unwary  traveler,  here  one  night  a  dead  sea 
cow  floated  up  and  created  a  little  ripple  of  excitement  as 
the  first  of  its  kind  to  be  found  in  these  waters,  and  here 
the  deadly  rattler  made  his  last  stand,  disputing  territory 
with  the  small  boy  of  that  day,  who  pastured  his  milch 
cows  on  the  rich  salt  grass  of  its  meadows.  One  boy  of 
that  day,  a  gray  haired  man  now,  told  me  of  an  adventure 
of  his,  in  early  days  while  following  the  cows  home.  He 
was  barefoot,  and  to  avoid  the  plentiful  grass  burrs,  was 
leaping  to  bare  spots  of  sand.  Mistaking  a  coiled  rattler 


118  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST: 

for  a  foothold,  he  landed  fair.  The  snake  struck  and  fas- 
tened his  fangs  in  the  boy's  clothing,  then  ensued  a  race 
such  as  was  never  equaled  on  the  nearby  track  of  later 
years.  The  boy  fled  to  the  beach  and  on  into  the  water, 
never  halting  until  the  walking  got  bad  and  swimming  neces- 
sary, when  he  discovered  that  he  had  parted  company  with 
his  enemy,  nor  did  he  ever  again  go  to  the  pasture  for  cows 
on  foot. 

In  an  early  day  a  man  named  Zeigler  planted  salt  cedars 
on  a  spot  near  the  reef,  built  a  house  and  opened  a  beer 
garden — an  institution  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  German.  But 
the  venture  was  a  failure  and  only  the  grove  of  those  strange 
trees  remain  to  mark  the  site  of  our  first  (and  glad  to  say) 
and  only  beer  garden.  The  body  of  land  north  of  the  bayou 
remained  a  pasture  for  butchers  of  the  city  for  years,  but 
our  growing  city  demanded  room  and  now  the  new  Beach 
Hotel  and  many  beautiful  homes  are  built  in  the  old  pas- 
ture. A  street  car  line  runs  through  its  heart,  and  the 
old  gives  place  to  the  new.  Other  spots  dear  to  the  heart 
of  the  small  boy  of  the  old  days  was  Salt  Lake  and  Three 
Mile  Point.  Salt  Lake,  a  mile  west  of  the  old  town,  was 
a  great  place  to  catch  crabs,  and  hunt  wood  rats,  while  the 
young  sportsman  got  his  first  chance  at  wild  ducks  and 
geese  from  its  banks.  Sometimes  the  fowls  were  of  the 
tame  variety,  property  of  nearby  farmers,  but  what  differ- 
ence if  he  could  hit  and  get  away  with  them? 

Three  Mile  Point  was  the  boundary  of  the  small  boys' 
world  to  south  of  the  city.  Here  he  could  find  the  eggs  of 
the  sea  bird,  perhaps  an  armadillo,  and  often  see  a  herd  of 
deer,  or  a  drove  of  javelinas  which  he  did  not  care  to  med- 
dle with.  But  alas,  Salt  Lake  is  dry,  and  the  magnificent 
Alta  Vista  Hotel  stands  upon  Three  Mile  Point,  while  the 
city  steadily  crowds  up  to  and  beyond  them,  and  the  small 
boy  of  today  must  go  further  afield  for  his  sport.  But  like 
the  Indian  and  the  buffalo,  the  boy  of  his  kind  has  gone 
forever.  And  perhaps  as  well.  The  world  must  progress 
and  he  of  the  present  day  must  fit  himself  for  the  new  order 
of  things,  a  much  easier  life  than  that  of  his  father,  but  if 
left  to  the  vote  of  the  same  boy,  we  believe  he  would  prefer 
the  old  life  with  its  freedom  and  dash  of  danger,  dear  to 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  119 

the  heart  of  the  American  youth,  more  particularly  to  the 
youth  of  South  Texas,  to  whom  the  change  from  the  free 
life  of  the  prairies,  the  round-up  and  the  cattle  drive,  have 
come  so  rapidly  that  he  can  hardly  realize  that  it  has  passed 
forever. 


120  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


CHAPTER  XXVII. 

Our  Mexican  Citizens. 

The  following  story  comes  to  the  writer  from  a  Nueces 
County  Ranch,  and  illustrates  our  Mexican  servant  as  he  is. 

Two  horses  were  missing  from  the  corral  and  Pedro 
had  orders  to  find  them.  He  spent  the  day  in  search,  and 
returned  empty  handed  at  nightfall.  Another  day  was  spent 
with  like  results  (afterward  learned  that  Pedro  had  spent 
the  two  days  at  a  fiesta  nearby,  and  had  taken  a  prominent 
part  in  the  festivities,  chicken  fights,  running  the  rooster, 
and  other  sports  dear  to  the  heart  of  the  Aztec).  On  his 
return  to  the  ranch  at  the  close  of  the  second  day  he  found 
the  ranchman  mad.  Calling  Pedro  up  he  proceeded  to  give 
emphatic  orders,  Pedro  should  go  out  in  the  morning  and 
get  the  horses,  get  them  quick  or  not  return.  And  poor 
Pedro  retired  to  his  cabin  almost  broken  in  spirit.  Long 
after  the  lights  were  out  in  the  ranch  house  the  kind-hearted 
mistress  of  the  house  heard  him  repeating  his  prayers.  Poor 
fellow,  he  was  born  on  the  place  and  knew  no  other  home. 
Next  morning  at  an  early  hour  the  ranch  lady  saw  him  pre- 
paring to  start  again  on  his  search.  He  was  intently  work- 
ing on  something  on  the  fence.  Going  near,  she  saw  that 
he  had  dressed  a  forked  twig  up  in  gay  colored  rags  and 
was  tying  it  on  the  top  rail.  "What  is  this?"  she  asked. 
"Esta  es  Cristo,"  said  he.  Then  he  spoke  to  the  figure  in 
plain  terms.  If  he  did  not  find  the  horses  he  would  rend 
it  limb  from  limb,  pour  boiling  oil  over  its  head,  place 
its  feet  in  living  coals,  and  then  the  lady  fled.  Two  hours 
later  a  very  proud  Pedro  turned  the  missing  stock  into  the 
corral,  and,  going  over  to  the  fence,  reverently  taking  off 
his  hat,  carefully  removed  the  figure  from  the  fence,  tak- 
ing off  the  rags,  and  returning  the  twig  to  the  brush  heap. 
And  to  this  day  he  and  his  family  know  that  the  Cristo 
guided  him  to  the  missing  horses  on  that  day.  Nor  has  it 
ever  occurred  to  him  that  he  might  have  got  them  on  his 
first  search  if  he  had  looked  for  them  and  eschewed  the 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  121 

fiesta.  As  a  race,  he  is  superstitious,  so  much  so  that  his 
employer  knows  it  is  useless  to  try  to  combat  his  ignorance. 
He  believes  in  the  evil  eye,  and  ghosts  are  common,  old  men 
and  women  sitting  on  the  sunny  side  of  the  jacal  and  tell- 
ing hair-raising  stories  all  forenoon  without  a  thought  as 
to  where  the  midday  meal  is  to  come  from.  One  favorite 
story  is  of  the  belated  wanderer  who  sees  a  great  white 
cross  rise  up  out  of  the  ground  in  front  of  him,  turning 
him  back  from  sure  death.  Another  is  a  story  from  some 
nearby  town  of  a  woman  who  is  so  bad  that  she  seats  her- 
self on  the  ground  and  cannot  arise.  Her  friends  cannot 
raise  her,  even  though  they  pull  her  arms  off  and  she  sure- 
ly disappears  before  their  eyes.  In  Corpus  Christi  this  is 
a  popular  story  from  Brownsville,  occasionally  moving  to 
Rio  Grande  City  or  San  Antonio. 

The  common  run  of  the  Mexican  population  do  not 
know  who  is  President  of  our  Country,  or  Governor  of  our 
State,  the  Justice  of  the  precinct  being  the  only  officer 
which  they  have  dealings  with,  believing  him  to  correspond 
with  their  Alcalde,  they  bring  all  their  troubles  to  him.  It 
was  truly  told  of  one  Justice  of  an  early  day  that  he  set 
up  a  satisfactory  divorce  court.  The  parties  appeared  be- 
fore him,  and  upon  a  payment  of  a  fee  of  five  dollars,  he 
stood  them  up  back  to  back,  and  at  the  word  they  set  out 
in  different  directions,  and  were  thereafter  free.  He  dis- 
trusts the  white  man  (perhaps  for  cause),  but  in  all  great 
matters  of  note  he  must  come  to  him  for  advice,  not  hesi- 
tating a  moment  in  feeing  a  lawyer,  if  he  can  find  the  price. 
To  strangers  he  looks  very  much  alike,  and  it  is  a  little 
hard  to  distinguish  Jesus  from  Pancho.  A  story  comes 
from  Brownsville  of  a  famous  trial  in  which  the  jury  were 
partly  Mexicans,  as. were  the  court  officials.  During  the 
stir  of  getting  reseated  after  a  recess,  the  prisoner  reached 
over  and  got  his  hat  and  coolly  walked  out  of  the  door. 
Not  until  business  was  resumed  did  anybody  notice  his  ab- 
sence, at  which  time  he  was  crawling  out  of  the  Rio  Grande 
on  the  safe  side. 

Some  years  ago  our  town  had  a  real  sensation  which 
set  us  all  to  talking.  As  near  as  I  can  remember  the  story, 
this  woman  shot  a  man  at  fiesta  on  the  Mexican  side  of 


122  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

the  river,  at  Matamoros.  She  was  placed  in  jail  there,  and, 
being  an  American,  received  no  favors.  One  wild  night, 
aided  by  friends,  she  escaped  to  this  side.  An  old  gentle- 
man, Dr.  Head  I  think  was  his  name,  got  a  mount  for  her, 
and  guided  her  through  the  wild  country  over  cow  trails, 
fearing  pursuit  and  recapture.  The  poor  woman  broke  her 
ankle  in  escaping,  and  arrived  in  town  lame  to  helplessness, 
and  with  but  the  clothes  she  escaped  in.  The  doctor  car- 
ried her  to  the  county  jail  for  safety.  The  news  went  abroad 
and  the  good  women  of  the  town  rallied  to  her  aid,  fur- 
nishing every  comfort.  A  few  days  later  the  Mexican  Gov- 
ernment demanded  her  extradition.  Then  it  was  the  men's 
turn  to  rally,  and  they  did  not  fail  in  their  duty.  It  be- 
coming apparent  that  only  by  force  could  she  be  removed, 
the  case  was  dropped  and  she  went  free.  I  do  not  know 
the  rights  of  the  case,  but  I  do  know  that  the  poor  woman 
cast  herself  upon  our  mercy,  and  am  proud  to  say  that  she 
came  to  the  right  place. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST:  123 


STORY  OF  RAIDS  BY  MEXICAN  BANDITS 

GOOD  FRIDAY,  MARCH,  18Z5 

By  MRS.  SAM  RANKIN 

Good  Friday  in  March,  1875,  is  still  remembered  with 
lively  interest  by  many  of  the  present  citizens  of  Corpus 
Christi.  It  was  on  that  day  that  the  citizenship  of  the  city 
was  thrown  into  a  state  of  wild  consternation  by  a  law- 
less band  of  about  thirty  armed  and  mounted  Mexicans, 
supposed  to  be  the  followers  of  famous  Mexican  bandit, 
Cortinez.  The  murders,  robberies  and  other  lawless  deeds 
and  outrages  of  this  noted  outlaw  and  his  gang  made  man's 
inalienable  right  to  the  enjoyment  of  life,  liberty  and  prop- 
erty an  unknown  quantity  on  either  side  of  the  lower  Rio 
Grande,  in  years  embraced  within  the  decade  covering  the 
'7o's.  On  the  day  named  this  band  of  armed  outlaws  made 
their  appearance  at  Frank's  store  on  the  river  road,  ten 
miles  distant  from  Corpus  Christi.  Here  they  not  only 
robbed  the  store,  but  also  captured,  robbed  and  held  as 
prisoners,  all  citizens  who  chanced  to  be  traveling  on  that 
road,  and  passing  Frank's  store  during  their  unwelcome 
stay.  A  boy,  unobserved  by  the  Mexicans,  saw  what  they 
were  doing  and  carried  the  news  to  Corpus  Christi.  One 
old  gentleman  who  lived  in  Nueces  County  at  the  time 
says  that  a  number  of  the  citizens,  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren, believing  that  Corpus  Christi  was  hopelessly  doomed 
to  be  captured  by  these  bandits,  became  panic  stricken  and 
sought  safety  on  a  vessel  that  was  anchored  at  the  wharf, 
and  that  one  of  the  men  who  regarded  prudence  as  the  bet- 
ter part  of  valor,  with  his  "pepper  box"  drawn,  cocked  and 
finger  on  trigger,  led  the  retreating  column  to  the  boat.  Oth- 
ers, however,  with  more  composure  and  better  judgment, 
armed  themselves,  went  to  meet  the  enemy  on  land  and  com- 
bat his  entrance  into  the  city.  They  preferred  a  land  fight 
rather  than  a  naval  retreat. 

But  touching  the  daring  raid  of  these  lawless  Mexi- 


124  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

cans,  we  will  quote  in  substance  from  two  old  citizens,  who 
are  now  and  were  then  living  in  Corpus  Christi.  Here  is 
what  they  respectively  say : 

R.  R.  Savage — "I  was  at  my  ranch,  called  Rancho 
Seco,  twenty-five  miles  from  Corpus  Christi,  on  the  day 
that  the  Mexicans  made  that  raid  into  Nueces  County,  on 
Good  Friday,  in  March,  1875.  My  wife  and  her  mother, 
Mrs.  E.  D.  Sidbury,  were  en  route  to  my  ranch.  They  were 
captured,  robbed  and  held  as  prisoners  as  long  as  the  bandits 
remained  at  Frank's  store.  When  the  robbers  left  Frank's 
store  they  released  the  women,  but  carried  with  them  all 
the  men,  whom  they  held  as  prisoners.  They  carried  away 
the  driver  and  horses,  and  left  Mrs.  Sidbury  and  Mrs. 
Savage  there  afoot.  They,  with  Miss  Laura  Allen,  now 
Mrs.  Benavides  of  Laredo,  thinking  they  might  possibly 
take  a  near  cut  through  brush  and  beat  the  gang  to  Noakes 
store,  only  three  miles  distant,  and  give  the  news  and  arouse 
the  country  to  action,  took  steps  in  that  direction,  but  be- 
fore reaching  there  they  heard  shots  and  saw  smoke  rising, 
and  knew  that  Noakes  store  had  been  set  afire.  Naturally 
they  became  nervous,  thinking  that  every  noise  they  heard 
near  them  was  a  Mexican  bandit.  They  lost  their  course 
and  wandered  around  in  the  brush  until  Sunday  morning 
without  food  or  water.  They  reached  the  river,  but  the 
bluff  was  so  precipitous  they  could  not  get  to  the  water. 
Finally  they  found  the  house  of  an  American  family,  where 
they  were  provided  with  food  and  shelter.  It  was  Sunday 
morning  before  news  of  what  had  happened  reached  me. 

"At  Frank's  store  the  bandits  made  the  prisoners  get 
in  a  ring,  and  guarded  them.  A  Mexican  among  the  prison- 
ers remarked,  'Well,  I  know  you/  and  instantly  he  was  shot 
to  death  by  his  captors.  At  this  place  they  had  about 
twenty-five  or  thirty  prisoners,  including  men  and  women, 
but  took  the  men  and  horses  with  them,  marching  them 
three  miles  to  Tom  Noakes'  store,  on  the  river,  at  Nueces- 
town.  The  men  were  made  to  walk,  and  the  conduct  of 
the  Mexicans  toward  them  was  quite  brutal.  They  would 
run  their  horses  over  and  otherwise  abuse  the  prisoners. 
Judge  Gilpin,  who  was  a  prisoner  and  quite  old  and  feeble, 
gave  out,  and  they  knocked  him  down  a  time  or  two,  and 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  125 


exacted  of  him  a  task  which  he  did  not  have  the  physical 
strength  to  perform.  They  refused  to  release  him,  and 
two  of  his  fellow  prisoners  let  him  get  between  them  and 
lock  arms  with  them,  and  in  that  way  they  helped  him  along. 

"When  they  arrived  at  his  store,  Noakes  saw  that  they 
were  robbers  and  shot  the  first  .man  that  entered  it,  in- 
flicting upon  him  a  severe  if  not  fatal  wound.  To  avenge 
the  wound  of  their  comrade  in  crime,  they  set  fire  to  and 
burned  the  store,  but  they  failed  to  get  Noakes,  he  having 
made  his  escape  through  a  subterranean  channel  which  led 
from  the  store  to  the  river.  The  store  stood  upon  the  bluff 
a  short  distance  from  the  river.  He,  knowing  the  lawless- 
ness that  pervaded  the  country  in  those  years,  had  provided 
this  means  of  escape  in  case  the  emergency  for  using  it 
should  ever  arise;  Before  applying  the  torch  they  took 
from  the  store  all  the  goods  they  needed  or  that  they  could 
take  with  them.  When  the  Mexican  was  shot  by  Noakes, 
a  man  named  Smith  ran  out  of  the  store  and  he  was  shot 
and  struck  in  the  chest  with  five  balls  discharged  from 
their  Winchester  rifles.  He  recovered  from  these  wounds, 
notwithstanding  that  the  doctors  thought  that  there  was  no 
chance  at  all  for  him  to  live.  When  Mrs.  Noakes  saw  that 
they  were  going  to  burn  the  store,  she  told  them  if  money 
was  what  they  were  after  she  would  give  it  to  them  if  they 
would  not  burn  the  store.  They  told  her  then  she  had 
better  get  it  quickly.  She  did  so,  giving  them  $500.  They 
took  the  money  and  made  her  and  her  children  get  out  of 
the  store  and  applied  the  torch,  thus  burning  Mr.  Noakes 
out  of  house  and  home,  leaving  him  and  his  family  without 
a  change  of  clothing.  His  loss  was  estimated  at  $20,000. 

"All  day  Saturday  and  up  to  Sunday  morning  100  or 
more  men  had  diligently  searched  the  country  for  Mrs. 
Sidbury,  who  is  now  dead,  and  Mrs.  Savage  and  Miss  Al- 
len. They  had  about  concluded  that  these  ladies  had  been 
recaptured  and  carried  away  as  prisoners  when  the  news 
came  that  they  had  found  their  way  to  and  were  in  the 
house  of  the  American  family  as  has  been  stated. 

"While  this  search  was  going  on  for  the  women,  Judge 
Sidney  Gail  Borden  of  San  Patricio  County,  who  lived  just 
across  the  river  from  Nuecestown  and  who  had  been  cap- 


126  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

tured  by  this  band  of  outlaws  who  stole  from  him  a  horse 
worth  $250.00,  hastily  got  together  a  company  of  about 
thirty  men  and  pursued  them  to  the  Rio  Grande,  reaching 
that  border  just  six  hours  after  the  enemy  had  crossed  it 
and  passed  into  Mexico.  The  release  or  escape  of  Judge 
Borden  and  the  other  prisoners  was  effected  when  the  small 
party  of  eight  or  ten  brave  and  daring  men  went  out  from 
Corpus  Christi  and  attacked  the  Mexican  raiders/' 

On  this  point  we  will  quote  from  Judge  Whelan,  who 
is  now  Justice  of  the  Peace  in  Corpus  Christi,  and  who  was 
one  of  the  attacking  party.  In  substance  he  says :  "I  was 
one  of  the  party  that  attacked  the  Mexican  bandits.  P.  F. 
Dunn,  who  is  now  representing  this  district  in  the  Legisla- 
ture; Washington  Mussett,  John  Dunn,  James  Dunn, 
George  Dunn,  Bass  Burrass,  George  W.  Swank  and  Clem 
Vetters,  who  was  then  a  small  boy,  were  the  others.  We 
overtook  the  Mexicans  at  12  mile  mott,  that  being  the  dis- 
tance from  Corpus  Christi.  Noakes'  store  was  burning 
when  we  reached  there,  but  the  Mexicans  had  withdrawn 
to  the  brush,  taking  with  them  two  wagons  and  the  prison- 
ers whom  they  had  captured.  We  were  told  that  they  had 
taken  Mrs.  Sidbury,  Mrs.  Savage  and  Miss  Allen  with  them 
as  prisoners.  As  soon  as  we  heard  this  we  wrere  determined 
that  we  would  not  wait  for  reinforcements,  but  would 
charge  them  in  their  stronghold.  We  had  not  proceeded 
more  than  a  mile  when  from  their  protection  under  a  cover 
of  brush  they  received  us  with  a  volley  from  their  Win- 
chesters. There  were  about  three  hundred  shots  exchanged. 
Swank  fell  on  the  first  round.  We  pressed  them  back  into 
thicker  timber.  We  recaptured  the  prisoners  and  wagons, 
but  by  this  time  it  had  become  too  dark  to  continue  the 
fight.  We  then  fell  back  to  Banquete  for  reinforcements, 
but  before  morning  the  Mexicans  had  scattered  and  we 
never  came  upon  them  any  more.  While  one  of  our  men, 
Mr.  Swank,  was  killed,  I  am  satisfied  the  Mexicans  lost 
several.  I  saw  one  fall,  and  I  afterward  learned  that  three 
or  four  others  who  received  mortal  wrounds  died  before  they 
reached  the  Rio  Grande.-  James  and  George  Dunn  and  Bass 
Burrass.  who  were  with  us  in  this  fight,  have  since  died." 

From  Mr.  Savage  it  was  learned  that  the  Mexican  who 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  127 

had  been  wounded  by  Mr.  Noakes  was  caught  the  day  after 
he  had  been  shot  by  some  of  the  men  who  were  hunting 
for  the  lost  women.  He  had  been  too  badly  hurt  to  bear 
the  hard  riding  necessary  to  escape  being  captured  before 
he  could  get  back  to  the  Mexicans,  and  his  comrades  had 
left  him  with  some  Mexicans  who  were  asked  to  take  care 
of  him.  They  were  taking  him  to  town  in  a  wagon  when 
his  captors  discovered  him  and  took  charge  of  him.  He 
was  identified  by  some  of  those  whom  he  had  ill-treated 
when  they  were  held  prisoners  by  him  and  his  band.  He 
had  proven  himself  to  be  the  most  brutal  one  of  the  band, 
and  it  is  needless  to  say  that  his  case  was  speedily  disposed 
of  without  the  intervention  of  judge  or  jury. 

This  raid  was  perhaps  the  most  daring  ever  made  as 
far  into  the  interior  of  our  country  by  an  armed  band  of 
foreign  bandits,  it  being  over  one  hundred  miles  from 
Frank's  store  to  the  Mexican  border.  But  whatever  may 
be  said  or  thought  of  this  raid  it  should  be  remembered 
that  at  that  time  the  sparsely  settled  country,  coupled  with 
other  conditions  favorable  to  raiding  squads  and  bands  of 
outlaws,  explains  in  a  great  measure  why  these  marauders 
were  not  overtaken,  captured  or  annihilated  before  they 
could  return  to  the  south  side  of  the  Rio  Grande.  Large 
stretches  of  country  in  the  Rio  Grande  Valley  covered  with 
dense  thickets  of  cactus,  chaparral  and  other  growths  made 
it  almost  impossible  to  overhaul  them  after  they  had  gotten 
a  start  of  six  or  twelve  hours  ahead  of  their  pursuers. 

Judge  Gilpin  believed  himself  to  be  the  first  American 
to  visit  our  coast.  He  landed  on  the  site  of  the  present  city 
in  the  winter  of  1829,  the  only  occupant  of  a  small  schooner 
that  sailed  from  New  Orleans.  There  was  no  evidence  of 
human  habitation  and  as  the  Judge  did  not  know  that  the 
wrecked  sailor,  Whelan,  had  landed  in  1824,  he  believed 
himself  to  be  the  first  white  man  to  view  our  bluff  and 
two  bays.  He  went  from  here  to  Mexico,  returning  in  1848. 
He  became  a  pioneer  merchant,  as  a  garrison  had  been 
established  and  settlers  had  come  during  his  absence.  He 
sold  goods  in  the  Belden  Building,  at  the  corner  of  Chap- 
arral and  Williams  streets;  his  partners  were  Mr.  Belden, 
Jake  Owens  and  William  Mann.  No  doubt  they  did  a  good 


128  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

business,  as  they  had  all  the  Rio  Grande  country  and  part 
of  Mexico  as  customers. 

After  the  Army  had  moved  homeward,  a  small  detach- 
ment of  Rangers  under  Captain  Sutton  was  stationed  here. 
Later  they  were  ordered  to  Austin.  They  were  out  but  one 
day  when  trouble  broke  loose  in  Corpus  village.  Captain 
Kinney  had  enlisted  a  company  of  one  hundred  and  thirty 
men  with  whose  aid  he  intended  to  found  a  new  republic 
on  the  Rio  Grande.  The  expedition  had  failed,  as  the  Cap- 
tain could  not  finance  accoutrements  and  supplies.  The 
shipload  from  New  Orleans,  which  arrived,  being  held  for 
cash,  and  returned  with  load  to  the  parties  who  had  sent 
her.  This  disheartened  the  lawless  men  who  were  waiting 
to  march  and  as  soon  as  the  troops  were  gone  they  or- 
ganized a  reign  of  terror.  A  courier  was  dispatched  after 
the  Rangers,  who  made  a  forced  march  back,  and  quelled 
the  disturbance,  and  another  dream  of  conquest  south  of 
the  Rio  Grande  failed. 

Judge  Gilpin  later  became  a  leading  light  in  the  South- 
west, having  held  office  of  Chief  Justice  for  a  number  of 
years,  and  served  three  terms  in  the  Legislature,  he  knew  all 
the  old  people,  and  many  thrilling  stories  of  the  frontier. 
The  death  of  Captain  Kinney,  the  wounding  of  Captain 
Berry  and  Captain  Cook  by  Indian  arrows.  He  was  cap- 
tured by  Mexican  raiders  of  1875.  Later  he  went  into  the 
ranching  business,  having  purchased  a  place  about  forty 
miles  west  of  Corpus  Christi.  Though  he  lived  in  stirring 
times  and  had  many  close  calls  he  died  peacefully  in  his 
bed  at  an  advanced  age,  mourned  by  all  who  knew  him. 
A  Christian  of  Episcopal  faith,  a  Mason  of  high  standing, 
carrying  with  him  to  the  rough  frontier  the  rigid  honesty 
of  his  youthful  training.  He  was  a  native  of  Newport, 
Rhode  Island.  He  sleeps  in  the  old  Military  Cemetery. 
With  the  exception  of  a  monument  raised  by  relatives  and 
friends,  we  have  never  heard  that  our  people  have  honored 
his  memory  by  naming  even  a  street  or  an  alley  for  him. 
I  agree  that  he  was  our  first  American  pioneer,  as  likely 
Mr.  Whelan  (no  relative  of  the  Judge  of  that  name)  was 
a  son  of  Auld  Erin. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  129 


CORPUS  CHRISTI  POSTMASTERS 


Office  established  May  30,   1846,  William  P.  Aubry, 
postmaster;  likely  established  for  Taylor's  troops. 

September  21,    1847 — H.   D.   Norton. 

November  30,  1848 — D.  W.  Brewster. 

January  21,  1852 — C.  Cahill. 

May  27,   1854— H.   W.  Berry. 

December  5,  1855 — William  I.  Moore. 

November  22,   1856 — Charles  E.  Bryant. 

June   i,   1857 — George   Robertson. 

August  24,  1865 — Henry  Taylor. 

September  4,  1865 — Jane  L.  Marsh. 

September  2,   1867 — Hannah  Taylor. 

December  22,  1869 — John  Dix. 

April  24,   1870 — John  McClane. 

April  6,  1875—1.  W.  Ward. 

December  i,  1880 — John  M.  Swisher. 

May  i,  1884— J.  H.  C.  White. 

June   i,    1888 — Thomas   B.    Southgate. 

May  10,  1890 — L.  D.  Camp. 

May  9,  1894 — James  T.  Rankin. 

May  1 6,  1898 — Julius  Henry. 

June  27,  1904 — T.  D.  Ward. 

March  24,  1911 — E.  G.  Crabbe.  v 

May  n,  1915 — Mrs.  Georgia  Welch. 


130  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


BEGINNING  AND  ENDING  OF 
THE  CIVIL  WAR 


This  bit  of  history  was  told  the  writer  by  Mr.  J.  W. 
Golledge,  an  old-time  printer  of  Corpus  Christi.  Mr.  Goll- 
edge  worked  on  our  one  newspaper,  the  Nueces  Valley,  in 
1856,  and  was  present  at  the  taking  of  the  Government 
Station  at  Point  Isabel  by  the  Texas  troops.  He  says  on 
the  1 8th  day  of  February,  1861,  we  sailed  from  Galveston 
for  the  mouth  of  the  Rio  Grande,  we  were  commanded  by 
General  McLeod,  and  had  the  following  companies  on 
board :  Lone  Star  Rifles,  Galveston  Rifles,  Galveston  Ar- 
tillery and  Davis  Guard.  These  four  companies  belonging 
to  Galveston,  Fort  Bend  Rifles,  of  Fort  Bend  County,  and 
Gentry  Guards  of  Houston.  Arriving  at  our  destination,  we 
received  surrender  of  station,  hauling  down  the  old  flag 
and  hoisting  our  flag  in  its  place  (supposedly  flag  of  Texas, 
as  we  had  not  yet  adopted  Stars  and  Bars).  We  got  a 
large  amount  of  ammunition  and  stores.  The  commander 
of  the  fort  surrendered  without  a  fight  and  expressed  sym- 
pathy in  our  cause.  (Unfortunately  Mr.  Golledge  did  not 
remember  the  name  of  this  officer.)  Our  command  then 
returned  to  Galveston  about  the  first  of  March,  1861.  We 
were  more  than  a  month  in  advance  of  South  Carolina  in 
declaring  our  intentions  to  defend  our  State  rights,  but  alas 
we  were  six  weeks  from  a  telegraph  station  and  in  the  ex- 
citement of  the  times  we  never  received  credit  for  opening 
the  War,  and  right  here  four  years  later  our  banner  would 
wave  over  a  victorious  little  army,  and  for  the  last  time 
the  Rebel  yell  would  resound  over  a  victorious  field.  Mr. 
Golledge  was  present  at  the  fight,  on  the  staff  of  Colonel 
Rip  Ford.  He  says  we  captured  about  thirty  prisoners,  and 
a  wagon  train  loaded  with  supplies.  We  chased  them  to 
the  vicinity  of  their  fort  and  fleet,  and  night  ended  the 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  131 

rout.  Next  morning  Colonel  Ford  was  arranging  to  parole 
his  prisoners  when  news  arrived  that  peace  was  declared. 
The  Yankee  officer  bearing  the  news  was  quite  chummy, 
and  he  and  his  escort  joined  the  Colonel  and  other  Rebel 
officers  in  celebrating  the  event  by  drinking  to  each  other 
of  good  whiskey,  captured  among  hospital  stores  on  the 
wagon  train,  even  the  privates  were  called  up  and  given  a 
treat.  Ford  said,  "The  war  is  over  and  my  prisoners  go 
free,  but  it  was  not  over  yesterday  when  I  captured  this 
wagon  train,  and  I  will  keep  it,"  and  he  did.  Whether 
Uncle  Sam  ever  got  his  train  again  I  do  not  know,  but  I 
think  from  something  I  read  in  an  old  Chronicle  that  the 
horses  and  mules  were  taken  as  mounts  by  the  soldiers,  and 
the  wagon  and  goods  abandoned  on  the  Brownsville  road, 
south  of  this  city. 


132  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


SOME  EARLY  SETTLERS 


J.  H.  KEEPERS 

Mr.  Keepers  is  a  veteran  and  in  the  winter  of  life,  but 
despite  his  years,  he  has  kept  youth  in  his  heart  and  he  and 
his  good  wife  are  true  Southerners,  of  the  class  of  which 
we  are  proud,  in  this  summer  of  1915.  They  are  progres- 
sive citizens  and  in  touch  with  all  passing  events,  holding 
the  memory  of  the  old  South  sacred,  and  have  aided  in  build- 
ing the  new. 

Mr.  Keepers  says:  "I  belonged  to  an  independent 
cavalry  company,  commanded  by  one  of  the  best  men  I  ever 
knew,  Captain  Dan  Grady.  Our  company  was  raised  in 
Bastrop  County,  and  our  first  recognition  as  a  company  in 
the  -service  was  an  order  to  march  to  the  coast.  This  was 
in  '62.  We  came  by  way  of  Beeville,  then  a  small  town, 
of  which  I  have  but  little  recollection.  Leaving  there  we 
headed  for  Corpus  Christi,  crossing  the  Nueces  River  near 
its  mouth,  where  we  camped  that  night,  near  some  few 
houses,  supposedly  the  Motts,  or  Nuecestown,  and  the  next 
morning  we  rode  into  Corpus  Christi.  My  recollection  of 
the  place  is  vivid.  To  me  it  looked  like  a  place  of  con- 
siderable importance ;  on  the  streets  I  saw  many  Mexican 
carts,  with  their  Mexican  teams  and  drivers;  to  me  they 
were  interesting,  as  they  were  the  first  I  ever  saw,  and  I 
began  to  feel  as  if  the  fortunes  of  war  had  carried  us  to 
a  different  country.  There  were  several  stores  and  saloons 
open,  and  business  seemed  good.  Returning  after  many 
years,  the  place  seemed  turned  around.  The  only  spot  I 
could  place  was  the  old  St.  James  corner.  I  don't  know  if 
it  is  the  same  building,  but  I  am  sure  of  the  corner,  as  it 
was  the  center  of  the  business  district  at  that  time.  We 
tarried  in  town  a  few  hours,  then  left  for  the  Rio  Grande, 
via  King's  Ranch,  where  we  camped  that  night.  On  reach- 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  133 

ing  the  ranch  our  Captain  inquired  for  Captain  King,  but 
for  some  reason  the  ranchero  did  not  appear.  We  repeated 
our  request  several  times,  and  he  did  not  appear,  and  our 
boys  were  getting  anxious,  for  upon  a  deal  for  beef  de- 
pended our  supper.  Finally  the  Captain  came  out,  being 
satisfied,  I  suppose,  that  our  company  were  Rebels  and 
friends.  We  got  the  beef  and  spent  the  night  here.  The  place 
impressed  me  as  did  the  owner,  as  an  oasis  in  a  savage  wil- 
derness, where  a  man  must  be  assured  of  the  intentions  of 
his  visitors  before  he  would  meet  them.  Two  cannon  mounted 
in  the  top  of  the  house  also  impressed  me  and  strengthened 
my  feeling  that  I  had  got  out  from  under  our  Lone  Star 
flag.  The  next  morning  we  rode  away  to  Ringgold  Bar- 
racks. Years  after  I  returned  to  Corpus  Christi,  but  as 
I  stated,  the  place  had  turned  and  changed  beyond  recog- 
nition. The  bluff  was  still  here,  also  the  bay  and  St.  James 
corner,  otherwise  I  was  lost.  But  the  worst  is  yet  to  come. 
I  have  been  regularly  visiting  the  city  for  the  last  several 
years,  and  find  that  Corpus  keeps  changing  between  trips, 
and  that  I  have  to  keep  locating  former  known  spots. 
Picturesque  ox  carts  and  drivers  are  gone.  The  adobe 
houses  and  muddy  streets  have  given  way  to  reinforced 
concrete  and  Bitulithic,  and  if  Captain  Dan  Brady  and  his 
brave  band  of  youthful  Texans  should  come  back  over  the 
bluff  today,  upon  the  present  city,  they,  like  myself,  would 
look  in  surprise  on  this  modern  city  which  we  knew  as  a 
village  when  the  world  was  young. 

WILLIAM  ROGERS 

By  E.  T.  MERRIMAN 

William  Rogers,  a  native  of  Cowago  County,  Alabama, 
with  his  mother's  family,  came  to  Corpus  Christi  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Mexican  War.  Mr.  Rogers  was  connected 
with  the  Second  United  States  Dragoons,  and  with  them 
was  ordered  to  Matamoros,  in  April,  1846.  He  left  Corpus 
Christi  with  a  band  of  fifteen  men  and  two  women,  but 
when  about  one  hundred  miles  out  of  Corpus  Christi,  the 
party  was  captured  by  a  band  of  Mexican  guerillas,  and 


134  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

promptly  murdered  by  having  their  throats  cut,  after  be- 
ing tied,  and  their  bodies  thrown  into  the  waters  of  the 
Arroyo  Colorado,  the  women  meeting  the  same  fate,  but 
William  Rogers  was  not  to  die  with  his  family,  his  terrible 
wound  was  not  fatal,  and  after  four  days  of  indescribable 
suffering,  he  reached  Fort  Brown,  where  he  received  first 
aid  from  military  surgeons,  who  removed  numbers  of  screw 
worms  from  his  wound,  the  marks  of  which  he  carried  to 
the  grave,  a  clean  scar  from  ear  to  ear.  At  the  end  of  four 
months  he  was  out  again,  and  it  is  said  that  for  the  next 
few  years  he  followed  and  dealt  writh  Mexican  guerillas. 
Old  stories  have  it  that  one  man  of  the  forty  that  attacked 
that  peaceful  party  on  the  Arroyo  Colorado  escaped  his 
aim.  We  say  peaceful,  as  we  have  been  told  that  this  was 
one  of  the  sutler's  wagons  (most  of  the  men  being  un- 
armed), belonging  to  the  Second  Dragoons,  consequently 
a  rich  prize  for  the  bandits,  and  illustrating  our  perfect  ig- 
norance of  our  dusky  foe ;  no  unarmed  party  would  think 
of  convoying  goods  to  Rio  Grande  even  now. 

Mr.  Rogers  returned  to  Corpus  Christi  in  1854,  hav- 
ing previously  purchased  the  Palo  Alto  R.anch  and  bought 
fifty  head  of  cattle  from  Elder  Barden,  and  for  a  time 
traded  in  stock,  though  he  repeatedly  suffered  depredations 
from  Mexican  cattle  thieves.  In  1868  his  holdings  con- 
sisted of  thirteen  hundred  head  of  horse  stock  and  twenty- 
eight  hundred  head  of  cattle.  These  he  traded  off  for  cash 
and  bought  the  St.  James  Hotel,  then  in  course  of  erection, 
paying  thirteen  thousand  for  this  noted  old  corner,  five  thou- 
sand dollars  more  was  spent  in  finishing  and  furnishing  it, 
and  it  became  Corpus  Christi's  one  and  only  hotel,  where 
many  noted  men  have  rested  in  their  day.  Mr.  Rogers  had 
faith  in  improved  stock,  and  during  our  Civil  War  imported 
direct  from  Spain  ten  rams  of  the  best  breed,  for  which 
he  paid  thirty  dollars  each  in  gold.  He  believed  these  ani- 
mals to  be  the  best  ever  brought  to  Texas.  Later  we  find 
him  buying  land  north  of  San  Diego.  He  owns  the  Maria 
Ranch  of  nineteen  thousand  acres,  the  Chusa  Ranch  in  Mc- 
Mullen  County,  twenty-seven  thousand  acres,  one  thousand 
of  which  are  under  fence,  and  one  hundred  in  cultivation. 
Three  thousand  goats  and  twenty  thousand  sheep,  value 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  135 


two  to  eight  dollars  per  head,  land  valued  at  one  dollar  to 
one  dollar  and  a  half  an  acre.  A  residence  in  Corpus 
Christi  of  the  value  of  five  thousand  dollars,  two  large 
warehouses  and  the  St.  James  Hotel  from  which  he  derives 
a  rental  of  twenty-four  hundred  dollars  per  year.  Last 
spring  his  wool  clip  brought  between  six  and  seven  thousand 
dollars.  (This  article  published  in  a  local  paper  sometime 
in  the  seventies,  is  to  stimulate  others  to  go  into  sheep  and 
cattle  raising,  then  considered  the  only  crop  for  this  sec- 
tion.) Under  the  head  of  "Another  Good  Man  Gone,"  our 
local  paper,  Corpus  Christi  Free  Press,  under  the  date 
of  December  17,  1877,  chronicles  the  funeral  of  Hon.  Wil- 
liam Rogers,  at  that  time  a  member  of  Legislature  from 
this  district.  At  the  age  of  fifty-six  he  died,  surrounded 
by  family  and  friends,  and  mourned  by  good  people  through- 
out Southwest  Texas.  We  copy  verbatim  the  notice  of  pro- 
cession which  escorted  the  body  to  its  last  resting  place : 

"Star  Rifles,  escort.  Fire  Department.  Music  (pro- 
vided by  Masons).  Hearse.  Family.  Citizens  on  horse- 
back. Citizens  in  carriages." 

This  good  man  rests  in  the  old  Bay  View  (or  properly, 
Military)  Cemetery,  among  the  friends  of  his  strenuous 
youth,  the  beautiful  resting  place  of  our  pioneer  dead.  This 
sacred  spot  belongs  to  our  city  and  our  people  are  to  unite 
in  beautifying  this  cemetery  and  caring  for  the  ashes  of 
men  who  made  history  in  early  days.  Old  landmarks  are 
gone,  only  this  old  cemetery  with  its  weather-stained  tomb- 
stones remains,  a  link  between  then  and  now.  (The  paper 
from  which  this  article  was  taken  was  loaned  by  Mr.  E.  T. 
Merriman,  for  years  the  editor  of  our  own  reliable  paper, 
and  always  a  true  son  of  Corpus  Christi.) 

BLOOD  BROTHERS 

Mark  Downey  was  an  Irishman  and  proud  of  it,  al- 
though he  was  born  in  the  city  of  London.  He  kept  a 
stove  and  tin  shop  in  Corpus  Christi  just  after  the  War. 

Hugh  R.  Sutherland  was  a  Scotchman,  born  in 
Toronto,  Canada,  coming  to  Corpus  Christi  in  seventy-six, 
he  worked  as  a  builder.  Going  into  Downey's  shop  one  day 


136  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

shortly  after  his  arrival,  the  talk  turned  to  the  late  War. 
"I  was  in  Northern  Virginia,"  said  Mark.  "Hays'  Louis- 
iana Brigade."  "You  were,"  said  Hugh;  "I  was  in  Wil- 
cox  Alabama  Brigade."  Questions  and  answers  flew  thick 
and  fast.  "Were  you  in  railroad  cut  when  the  Louisianians 
fought  and  held  the  enemy  at  bay  with  rocks?"  (Fact.) 
"My  regiment,  the  Ninth  Alabama,  brought  ammunition  and 
helped  rout  the  Yanks."  By  this  time  Mark  was  over  the 
counter  and  they  were  in  each  other's  arms,  these  men  who 
had  met  for  the  first  time  in  Southwest  Texas  to  talk  over 
the  glorious  deeds  of  their  army,  of  the  officers  both  had 
followed,  and  of  the  comrades  who  were  left  on  the  battle- 
field. From  that  meeting  grew  a  friendship  which  ended 
only  with  life,  what  the  Indians  call  "blood  brothers,"  were 
those  two  men.  They  shared  their  troubles  and  pleasures, 
and  were  such  earnest  Southerners  that  their  good  wTives 
were  continually  afraid  that  they  would  start  a  little  wrar 
of  their  own.  Kindly,  honest  men,  with  a  word  of  cheer 
or  a  little  help  for  every  less  fortunate  comrade  who  came 
to  them,  often  imposed  upon  but  never  discouraged.  Their 
children  were  taught  to  love  the  South  with  its  traditions, 
and  their  one  son  each,  declared  that  their  catechism  gave 
us  as  the  greatest  man,  Jeff  Davis ;  general,  Robert  E.  Lee  ; 
strategist,  Stonewall  Jackson;  cavalry  commander,  Jeb 
Stuart.  Then  after  a  Sunday  school  lesson  with  their  moth- 
ers they  got  all  mixed  up  and  were  not  able  to  separate 
Goliath,  Lazarus  and  Ananias  from  their  fathers'  teach- 
ings. Those  two  boys  inherited  the  same  sunny,  fun-loving 
dispositions  of  their  fathers,  and  we  are  disposed  to  think 
that  they  sometimes  imitated  the  last  named  Bible  character. 
This  little  story  goes  to  prove  that  there  was  some- 
thing lovable  about  our  people  of  the  old  South.  These 
men,  born  under  a  foreign  flag,  fought  four  years  side  by 
side,  where  glory  was  the  only  reward.  No  pay  and  scant 
rations,  and  at  the  end  elected  to  come  with  our  broken 
people  and  help  build  a  new  South  on  the  ashes  of  the  old, 
dying  in  the  belief  that  they  were  right,  peace  to  their  ashes. 
May  they  rest  with  their  old  commander,  under  the  shade 
of  the  trees,  which  he  saw  in  his  last  moments.  Our  own 
Stonewall  Jackson. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  137 


DR.  E.  T.  MERRIMAN 

ttwcroit  Librarj 

Dr.  Eli  T.  Merriman  was  among  the  prominent  citi- 
zens of  Corpus  Christi  fifty  years  ago,  moving  here  from 
Banquete,  Nueces  County,  at  the  close  of  the  Civil  War. 
Born  in  Bristol,  Connecticut,  February  i,  1815,  under  the 
shadow  of  the  Charter  Oak,  he  graduated  at  Yale  March 
4,  1833,  and  subsequently  obtained  diplomas  as  an  M.  D. 
at  the  University  of  Pennsylvania  and  Bermont  Academy 
of  Medicine.  In  1838  he  moved  to  Texas,  first  settling  at 
Bastrop.  Removing  thence  to  San  Marcos,  and  afterwards 
to  Edinburgh,  Hidalgo  County,  thence  to  Banquete,  in  the 
early  fifties,  moving  to  Corpus  Christi  in  1865.  He  prac- 
ticed his  profession  constantly  for  thirty-three  years,  serv- 
ing the  Lone  Star  Republic  as  a  private  soldier  and  as  a 
surgeon.  When  she  changed  into  a  State  he  became  a 
Representative  in  her  Legislature.  With  a  large  majority 
of  his  friends  and  neighbors  he  embraced  the  Southern 
Confederacy,  and  as  a  surgeon  gave  the  benefit  of  his  skill 
and  experience.  In  1867  he  fell  a  victim  to  yellow  fever 
which  visited  the  Texas  coast  during  that  year.  As  a  citi- 
zen he  was  enterprising  and  liberal ;  as  a  practicioner  he 
was  efficient  and  obliging,  full  of  kindness.  A  true  friend 
and  a  kind  husband  and  father.  His  death  was  regarded  as 
a  public  calamity.  His  widow,  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Merriman, 
opened  a  private  boarding  house,  which  she  kept  for  thirty- 
three  years,  the  Merriman  House  being  one  of  the  favorite 
boarding  places  of  Southwest  Texas,  from  1867  to  1900, 
when  Mrs.  Merriman  retired,  making  her  home  with  her 
eldest  son,  E.  T.  Merriman,  until  her  death  in  July,  1911. 

Dr.  Merriman  kept  a  hospital  open  during  the  War, 
where  Confederate  soldiers  were  cared  for;  also  a  hospital 
for  contagious  cases  out  at  Banquete,  giving  freely  of  his 
time  and  means  to  the  cause  he  had  adopted.  His  kind- 
ness and  charity  endeared  him  to  the  men  under  his  care, 
and  through  this  he  did  his  greatest  work.  When  the  war 
was  over  and  chaos  reigned,  his  influence  with  all  classes 
averted  more  than  one  lawless  act,  and  saved  his  city  from 


138  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

a  reign  of  terror.  A  better  man,  a  better  citizen,  a  better 
Southerner  never  came  to  West  Texas  than  Dr.  E.  T.  Merri- 
man. 

DR.  GEORGE  ROBERTSON 

Among  Corpus  Christi's  early  and  most  highly  esteemed 
citizens  and  professional  men  was  Dr.  George  Robertson, 
who  immigrated  with  his  wife  and  family  to  Corpus  Christi 
in  1854  from  Aberdeen,  Scotland,  establishing  a  drug  busi- 
ness here  which  he  conducted  up  to  the  time  of  his  demise, 
August  10,  1867,  when  he  was  stricken  with  yellow  fever, 
living  only  a  few  days  after  being  attacked  by  that  dreadful 
disease.  Dr.  Robertson  held  the  position  of  Postmaster  un- 
der the  United  States  Government  for  six  years,  and  re- 
mained in  office  during  the  Civil  War,  under  the  Con- 
federate States.  He  also  held  many  municipal  positions, 
wras  Mayor  of  the  city,  and  a  general  favorite  in  the  com- 
munity. He  was  highly  respected  by  all  who  knew  him, 
and  his  loss  was  keenly  felt.  He  left  a  devoted  wife  and 
four  children,  as  wrell  as  a  host  of  friends  to  mourn  the 
loss  of  a  dear  husband,  father  and  friend. 


MRS.  MARY  A.  SUTHERLAND 

By  E.  T.  MERRIMAN 

There  is  no  woman  in  Corpus  Christi  better  and  more 
favorably  known  that  is  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Sutherland,  mother 
of  H.  R.  Sutherland,  one  of  the  city's  prominent  attorneys. 

A  Southerner  by  birth,  a  native  of  the  State  of  Ala- 
bama, she  has  been  and  is  today  a  champion  of  Southern 
rights,  and  though  in  sympathy  with  the  "lost  cause"  and 
a  lover  of  the  Sons  and  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy,  she 
is  patriotic  and  a  staunch  friend  of  the  Red,  White  and 
Blue,  and  ever  ready  to  raise  her  voice  in  defense  of  Old 
Glory,  and  the  Land  of  Sweet  Liberty. 

Mrs.  Sutherland  came  to  Corpus  Christi  in  1876  with 
her  husband,  H.  R.  Sutherland,  Sr.,  now  passed  to  the 


THE  .STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST:  139 

"Great  Beyond,"  and  their  two  children,  H.  R.,  Jr.,  and 
Gussie,  afterwards  Mrs.  Cronkey,  now  deceased. 

Her  residence  of  nearly  forty  years  entitles  her  to  be- 
ing classed  as  an  old  settler  of  the  Bluff  City,  to  which  she 
is  so  -much  attached. 

No  woman  has  taken  more  interest  in  the  city's  prog- 
ress and  development  than  has  Mrs.  Sutherland,  she  hav- 
ing been  among  the  leaders  in  numbers  of  things  for  the 
good  of  the  town,  such  as  assisting  in  the  beautification  of 
the  bluff,  cemetery  work,  pavilion  work  and  other  improve- 
ments. Being  a  woman  of  great  executive  ability,  sound 
reasoning  and  perseverance,  Mrs.  Sutherland  has  accom- 
plished much  for  the  city's  good  in  all  her  undertakings, 
as  well  as  securing  for  herself  and  her  children  some  valu- 
able property.  She,  like  others,  has  had  her  trials  and 
burdens  to  bear,  but  with  it  all  she  is  still  engaged  in  good 
work,  ready  to  assist  her  people  in  all  the  interests  of  the 
town. 

A  staunch  member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  a  good 
Christian  woman,  ever  willing 'to  assist  those  in  distress  and 
need. 

Mrs.  Sutherland  is  a  pleasing  talker,  and  is  always  glad 
to  greet  her  friends  at  her  home  on  Starr  Street,  where  she 
resides  with  her  two  accomplished  granddaughters,  Misses 
Annie  and  Hugh  Cronkey. 


140  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 


THE  DAUGHTERS  OF  THE 
CONFEDERACY 

By  MRS.  W.   B.  HOPKINS 

Daughters  of  the  Confederacy !  What  nobler  title 
could  a  woman  wear,  what  prouder  heritage  could  be 
handed  down  than  this  name  first  bestowed  upon  the  fair 
young  girl,  Winnie  Davis,  and  now  claimed  by  more  than 
one  hundred  thousand  women.  Pledging  themselves  to 
keep  alive  the  memory  of  those  immortal  heroes,  whose 
deeds  of  valor  for  their  beloved  land  stand  out  as  the  most 
brilliant  in  the  pages  of  history;  to  teach  their  children  and 
their  children's  children  loyalty  to  the  hallowed  traditions 
of  the  Southland;  to  cherish  its  history  and  to  love  and 
honor  its  brave  defenders,  the  women  of  the  South,  in  1894, 
banded  themselves  together  in  an  organization  known  as  the 
United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy. 

From  its  inception,  the  avowed  purpose  of  this  organi- 
zation has  been,  not  to  foster  sectional  hate,  but  to  bring 
about  a  better  understanding  of  those  sacred  principles  for 
which  the  men  of  the  South  gave  their  lives,  to  "set  a  watch 
lest  the  old  traditions  fail." 

The  women  of  Corpus  Christi,  not  a  few  of  whom  were 
born  in  the  stormy  days  of  war,  and  rocked  in  the  cradle 
of  the  Confederacy,  formed  in  1912  the  Corpus  Christi 
Chapter  of  the  United  Daughters  of  the  Confederacy. 
Present  at  the  temporary  organization,  and  lending  much 
aid  and  inspiration,  was  Mrs.  Mabel  Mussey  Bates,  and  to 
her  the  Chapter  shall  ever  feel  very  grateful.  .At  a  later 
meeting  a  permanent  organization  was  effected,  and  the 
following  officers  elected : 

President,  Mrs.  H.  H.  Craig. 
First  Vice  President,  Mrs.  D.  McNeil  Turner. 
Second  Vice  President,  Mrs.  Bettie  T.  Robertson. 
Third  Vice  President,  Mrs.  Clay  Roberts. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  141 


Fourth  Vice  President,  Mrs.  George  French. 
Treasurer,  Mrs.  R.  L.  Garrett. 
Corresponding  Secretary,  Mrs.  Gordon  Boone. 
Recording  Secretary,  Mrs.  O.  M.  Suttle. 
Historian,  Mrs.  Mary  Sutherland. 
Registrar,  Miss  Mary  Woods. 

The  charter  contained  the  names  of  twenty-two  mem- 
bers :  Mrs.  Mary  Sutherland,  Mrs.  George  French,  Mrs. 
H.  H.  Craig,  Mrs.  D.  McNeil  Turner,  Mrs.  A.  C.  Fowler, 
Miss  Mary  Woods,  Miss  Ella  Thomas,  Mrs.  O.  F.  Martin, 
Miss  Mary  Carroll,  Mrs.  E.  A.  Born,  Mrs.  H.  R.  Suther- 
land, Mrs.  W.  B.  Hopkins,  Mrs.  S.  J.  Sorrell,  Mrs.  W.  A. 
Connor,  Mrs.  C.  H.  Steele,  Miss  Annie  S.  Cronkey,  Miss 
Hugh  S.  Cronkey,  Mrs.  Mayfield  Wilkinson,  Mrs.  Charles 
Carroll,  Mrs.  Clay  Roberts,  Mrs.  Gordon  Boone,  Miss  Mary 
Lee  Thompson. 

From  the  date  of  its  organization,  the  Corpus  Christi 
Chapter  has  never  failed  to  hold  the  interest  of  its  members. 
To  keep  alive  the  memories  of  the  old  South,  the  programs 
have  featured  songs  and  poems  that  brought  back  thoughts 
of  days  before  the  War.  By  observing,  with  open  meetings, 
special  days  of  historic  import,  by  the  rendition  of  splendid 
literary,  musical  and  patriotic  programs,  a  deep  interest  has 
been  maintained. 

But  by  no  means  have  other  than  social  features  been 
neglected,  for  the  beneficencies  of  the  Chapter  have  been 
generous  and  widespread. 

Deploring  the  fact  that  Southwest  Texas  had  done  so 
little  in  the  way  of  erecting  monuments  to  the  heroes  of 
the  "lost  cause,"  the  women  of  the  Corpus  Christi  Chapter 
determined  that  some  day  they  would  rear  a  fitting  me- 
morial to  the  noble  Texans  who  gave  their  lives  for  the 
South.  The  consummation  of  this  idea  was  the  crowning 
feature  of  Mrs.  H.  H.  Craig's  tenure  of  office.  With  a 
membership  of  only  fifty  women,  the  undertaking  seemed 
a  stupendous  one,  but  what  was  lacking  in  numbers,  they 
made  up  in  zeal  and  loyalty.  That  this  memorial  should 
take  the  form  of  a  public  drinking  fountain  was  the  unani- 
mous decision  of  the  Chapter  and  Pompeo  Coppini,  noted 


142  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRIST: 

sculptor  of  San  Antonio,  was  called  to  consult  with  them. 
Inspired  during  his  visit  here  by  the  natural  beauties  of 
Corpus  Christi,  the  result  was  a  conception  radically  dif- 
ferent from  the  stereotyped  memorial.  Corpus  Christi 
should  be  represented  as  a  beautiful  maiden,  and  on  either 
side  of  her  were  Father  Neptune  and  Mother  Earth  plac- 
ing a  crown  upon  her  head,  while  at  her  feet  were  trophies 
of  sea  and  land,  and  in  the  background  figures  symbolical 
of  the  riches  and  resources  of  our  land.  These  figures, 
heroic  in  size,  were  to  stand  in  high  relief  against  a  semi- 
circular background.  On  his  return  to  San  Antonio  Mr. 
Coppini  embodied  his  ideas  in  clay  and  a  committee  con- 
sisting of  Mesdames  D.  McNeil  Turner  and  E.  A.  Born 
was  sent  to  San  Antonio,  there  to  be  assisted  by  Mr.  Atlee 
Ayers  in  passing  judgment  upon  the  design.  They  were 
delighted  and  accepted  the  model  at  once.  Mr.  Coppini's 
proposition  was  that  he  would  make  the  Chapter  a  gift  of 
his  labor,  charging  only  for  the  materials  used  and  for  the 
workmen  who  cast  the  model  and  for  the  expense  of  setting 
it  up,  and  for  this  one  thousand  dollars  must  be  paid. 

Aided  by  a  very  forceful  trio  of  women  as  finance 
committee,  Mesdames  H.  D.  McDonald,  Sam  Rankin  and 
S.  A.  Early,  the  work  of  raising  the  necessary  funds  was 
accomplished  in  a  very  short  time,  despite  the  stringency  in 
the  money  market,  occasioned  by  the  outbreak  of  the 
European  War.  Every  means  of  turning  an  honest  penny 
was  employed,  rummage  sales  yielded  their  quota,  moving 
pictures  were  staged,  waffle  suppers  enticed  the  dollars 
from  unwilling  pockets,  and  the  women  even  acted  as  clerks 
on  a  special  sales  day  of  a  furniture  store  in  return  for 
a  percentage  of  the  profits.  The  Corpus  Christi  Daily 
Caller  generously  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  Chapter  its 
entire  outfit  and  working  force  in  getting  out  a  U.  D.  C. 
Special,  and  the  results  surpassed  the  most  sanguine  ex- 
pectations. Generous  contributions  from  members  of  the 
Chapter,  the  Rotary  Club,  the  various  banks  and  the  citi- 
zens at  large  swelled  the  sum  to  still  larger  proportions, 
and  what  had  loomed  as  a  stupendous  undertaking  was  soon 
an  accomplished  fact. 

The    courteous    and    progressive    Mayor  .of    Corpus 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  143 

Christi,  Hon.  Roy  Miller,  in  consulting  with  a  committee 
from  the  Chapter  regarding  the  placing  of  the  fountain, 
found  that  by  slightly  altering  the  plans  for  bluff  beautifi- 
cation,  just  about  to  be  carried  out,  the  fountain  could  be 
given  a  conspicuous  place  at  the  convergence  of  the  two 
great  granite  steps  on  the  side  of  the  bluff  back  of  the  City 
Hall.  The  location  serves  to  show  to  greater  advantage  the 
beauty  of  the  sculptured  figures  and  makes  the  Confederate 
memorial  observed  of  all  observers. 

With  the  completion  of  the  fountain,  Mrs.  Craig,  whose 
health  and  personal  bereavement  had  made  the  position  of 
President  an  onerous  one,  resigned  and  the  following  corps 
of  new  officers  were  chosen,  May,  1915: 

President,  Mrs.  H.  D.  McDonald. 
First  Vice  President,  Mrs.  Sam  Rankin. 
Second  Vice  President,  Mrs.  Charles  Carroll. 
Third  Vice  President,  Miss  Mary  Lee  Thompson. 
Fourth  Vice  President,  Mrs.  Gordon  Boone. 
Treasurer,  Mrs.  S.  A.  Early. 

Corresponding   Secretary,   Mrs.   B.   T.  Robertson. 
Recording  Secretary,  Mrs.  W.  B.  Hopkins. 
Registrar,  Miss  Mary  Woods. 
Historian,  Mrs.  Mary  Sutherland. 

With  characteristic  energy,  the  newly  elected  President 
has  launched  an  undertaking  that  promises  to  bring  honors 
as  well  as  financial  gains  to  the  Chapter.  Mrs.  Mary 
Sutherland,  widow  of  a  Confederate  veteran,  and  herself 
an  almost  life-long  resident  of  this  city,  a  woman  noted  for 
her  intense  loyalty  and  devotion  to  the  'lost  cause/'  has 
for  years  been  collecting  data  for  a  history  of  Corpus 
Christi,  a  collection  of  unique  information  from  a  mind  well 
stored  with  facts  that  have  long  been  forgotten  by  the  ma- 
jority of  Corpus  Christians.  With  no  thought  of  self-ag- 
grandizement, and  desiring  only  that  her  beloved  Chapter 
might  be  the  beneficiary,  Mrs.  Sutherland  has  given  this 
work  in  its  entirety  to  the  Corpus  Christi  Chapter.  The 
President,  recognizing  in  it  a  work  of  rare  interest  to  all 
who  have  ever  lived  in  this  beautiful  city,  at  once  pushed 
forward  the  publication  of  the  book,  and  the  Corpus  Christi 


144  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI 

Chapter  is  proud  to  give  it  to  the  public,  and  proud  of  the 
grand  woman  whose  life  work  it  has  been. 

This  brief  history  of  the  Corpus  Christi  Chapter  would 
be  incomplete  without  a  passing  mention  of  the  two  mem- 
bers claimed  by  death,  and  whose  loss  has  been  so  keenly 
felt,  Mrs.  Mary  Chatfield  Watts  and  Mrs.  Annie  Pope  Con- 
nor. In  the  death  of  Captain  J.  B.  Thompson,  Mr.  H.  H. 
Craig  and  Mr.  M.  T.  Gaffney,  the  Chapter  has  sustained 
the  loss  of  true  and  loyal  friends. 

Taken  all  in  all,  the  Corpus  Christi  Chapter  has  every 
right  to  feel  proud  of  its  achievements,  and  using  the  past 
as  an  augury  of  the  future,  enters  into  a  new  year  with 
serene  and  hopeful  hearts. 


THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  145 


THE  CORPUS  CHRISTI 
OF  TODAY 


In  closing  The  Story  of  Corpus  Christi,  the  Corpus 
Christ!  of  today,  will  be  very  briefly  reviewed,  the  growth 
of  the  city  during  the  past  ten  years  going  forward  by  such 
leaps  and  bounds  until  today,  with  the  single  exception  of 
Galveston,  it  is  the  largest  city  on  the  Texas  Coast  and  is 
growing  more  rapidly  than  any  other  in  South  Texas. 

In  proportion  to  population  more  improvements  that 
make  for  successful  city  building  have  been  secured  within 
the  past  ten  years  than  in  any  city  in  the  Southland,  and  the 
increase  in  population  and  business  and  property  values 
has  kept  pace  with  the  improvements. 

The  present  population  is  eighteen  thousand,  based  on  a 
most  conservative  estimate.  The  Federal  census  in  1910 
was  for  less  than  ten  thousand. 

~,  Ten  miles  of  streets  have  been  paved  writh  bitulithic 
pavement  during  the  past  three  years.  A  causeway  span- 
ning Nueces  Bay,  connecting  the  mainlands  of  Nueces  and 
San  Patricio  County,  has  been  completed  at  the  expense  of 
Nueces  County,  opening  up  for  Corpus  Christi  a  vast  retail 
trade  from  San  Patricio,  Bee,  Aransas  and  other  nearby 
counties. 

A  beautiful  five-story  Court  House,  costing  a  quarter 
million  dollars,  has  been  erected.  A  portion  of  the  bluff 
has  been  improved  with  every  prospect  that  1916  will  wit- 
ness a  completion  of  the  work. 

A  municipal  wharf,  costing  fifty  thousand  dollars,  has 
been  constructed.  Buildings  erected  in  the  city  during  1915 


146  THE  STORY  OF  CORPUS  CHRISTI  * 

cost  one-half  million  dollars.  The  Government  is  now  build- 
ing, at  a  cost  of  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand  dollars,  a 
magnificent  three-story  Federal  Building  at  the  corner  of 
Lower  North  Broadway  and  Starr  Streets. 

Two  beautiful  and  modern  hotels  have  been  erected 
within  the  past  few  years,  The  Nueces  and  The  Corpus 
Beach,  the  first  a  six-story  structure  with  two  hundred  and 
twenty  guest  rooms,  and  the  latter  a  four-story  building  with 
one  hundred  and  thirty  guest  rooms.  Both  are  fireproof  and 
are  modern  in  every  respect.  In  addition  Corpus  Christi 
has  many  other  first-class  hotels,  including  The  State,  a  four- 
story  building,  and  The  Seaside  and  Home,  both  having 
been  established  for  many  years  and  having  an  enviable  rec- 
ord with  the  traveling  public. 

Corpus  Christi  recently  has  secured  a  modern  city  water 
supply,  having  voted  three  hundred  thousand  dollars  in 
bond-  that  was  sufficient  to  so  improve  the  municipal  plant 
that  it  will  provide  sufficient  water  for  a  city  twice  as  large 
as  the  Corpus  Christi  of  today. 

In  many  other  ways  the  progress  of  the  city  has  de- 
veloped within  the  past  few  years,  during  1914  and  1915 
alone  six  hundred  private  dwellings  being  erected  within  the 
city  limits  and  adjoining  additions. 

Men,  women  and  children  of  the  city  have  a  most  opti- 
mistic faith  in  the  future  of  Corpus  Christi  and  work  untir- 
ingly for  the  progress  of  the  city  so  that  the  day  may  not  be 
far  distant  when  Corpus  Christi  is  not  only  the  largest  city 
in  South  Texas  but  also  the  best  place  in  which  to  live 
throughout  all  the  Southland. 


